


To Catch a Thief

by Aquata



Category: Rush Hour (TV 2016)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Romance, Undercover as Married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:53:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7503817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquata/pseuds/Aquata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carter and Lee have to go undercover as a married couple to catch a high class art thief. Needless to say it's hard to hide your feelings for someone when you're sharing a bed with them every night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually trying out writing a longer fic this time so I hope it turns out well. So here, have the obligatory undercover as married fic!
> 
> Let me know what you think!

"Captain Cole wants to see you two in her office," Didi said, coming to perch on the edge of Carter's desk. "What did you do this time?"

"We didn't do anything! Tell her, Lee," Carter retorted defensively although he was already thinking through their recent activities for anything that could warrant a telling off. It had been fairly quiet recently so he didn't think he could have done anything to upset her too much.

"He is telling the truth," Lee agreed and man was that a relief because Carter hadn't been totally sure.

"See!" Carter told Didi, sending her a smug look. "Maybe we're being commended for good work."

"Yeah because the way you handled that petty thief earlier was exemplary," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him.

"Hey! It's not my fault he threw up on Donovan's shoes!" he said, unable to keep from grinning at the memory. He saw Lee's lips twitch into a smile and grinned even wider. He loved it when he could make his serious friend smile.

"Just go," Didi said, making a shooing action and looking like she was trying not to smirk at Donovan's misfortune. Carter complied, still smiling, and followed Lee towards Captain Cole's office.

"Ah Carter, Lee," Captain Cole said, looking up from a file as they walked in. "Please, take a seat." It always made Carter nervous, being called to the Captain's office for no apparent reason. He felt like he was back in school being summoned to see the principal. He waited for Captain Cole to speak but she seemed to enjoy making him squirm because she gave him an amused look and waited a few moments before speaking.

"I have an important assignment for the two of you," she said and Carter breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't in trouble.

"Someone is stealing, and then selling on, high price art in Los Angeles," she began. "There have been quite a few thefts from the wealthier citizens of the city but the thief is meticulous. There's not a scrap of evidence that could give us a lead at any of the crime scenes. At each crime scene they've bypassed the security with no trouble. When the first theft happened we thought it must have been an inside job. The owner had managed to get himself into quite a bit of debt and the insurance would have been a big help to him. But then more started happening."

"A total of six paintings have been stolen from separate houses, each worth over half a million dollars," she said, spreading a series of photographs of the crime scenes across the desk while Carter whistled in awe at the value of these paintings. "Even with six crime scenes, we haven't got anything to go on. The thief, whoever they are, is highly skilled. They know exactly what they're doing. These are some of the richest citizens of Los Angeles so their security is the best but somehow this thief has managed to get through it all. We're under a lot of pressure to sort this out. The victims are very influential people and they don't feel safe at the moment. They're pushing for results and they want them fast."

"So how do we find this thief?" Carter asked wondering where they came into all of this. "Do we have anything of use?"

"Well we may not have anything on the thief but we have managed to apprehend one of the sellers," Captain Cole continued. "Now he wouldn't talk but his girlfriend was happy to speak to us once she learned what he'd been up to. She couldn't give us a name but she did overhear mentions of a street on a few occasions and we believe it could be where our thief lives. Now she didn't know the house number but luckily it's only a small crescent. There's only twelve houses, two of which are unoccupied so there aren't too many suspects. The thief could be anyone living there though and we need to figure out who. The two of you will be going undercover to find that out."

"Undercover!" Carter burst out, filled with excitement. "Did you hear that Lee?! We're going undercover!" He grinned over at his partner and got an exasperated look in response that did nothing to dampen his mood.

"Yes, alright, Detective Carter," Captain Cole sighed, sharing a sympathetic look with Lee that seemed to agree that she thought Carter was ridiculous as well. "As I was saying, the two of you will be posing as a married couple moving into one of the unoccupied houses in the street. From there you can-"

"Wait a moment," Carter interjected, unable to quite believe what he had just heard, excitement dying in his chest. "Did you just say married?" He glanced across at Lee, who looked back at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, I did," Captain Cole answered, wearing a look that said she was enjoying every moment of this. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"I-" Carter stammered looking to Lee for assistance but his partner quickly averted his gaze, fixing it on the floor. He didn't look like he was about to offer any help.

"Well, would you look at that," Captain Cole commented dryly, looking very pleased with herself as she watched Carter search for words. "He's speechless!" She looked between them, expression softening, although Carter couldn't help but feel that it was Lee earning her sympathy not him.

"Look. I can't force you to do this," she said, standing from the desk and walking towards the door. "I'll give you a few minutes to discuss it but you should know that we don't have anyone else lined up. We need you to do this." She slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her with a click and leaving them to the suddenly stifling silence of her office.

"Well that," Carter admitted after a long moment, "is not how I saw that conversation going."

He looked across at Lee, heart fluttering with nerves. He couldn't help but want to take this opportunity to be close to Lee, to pretend they were something other than what they were. But he worried he would accidentally reveal his feelings for his partner, feelings that were better off hidden away for the sake of their friendship.

It was already hard enough to keep them hidden. Carter had never been the best at subtlety or keeping secrets and it was even harder when he spent all day with the man he had feelings for. To add a fake relationship on top of that would make it even more difficult. He would have to be careful to make sure that he didn't slip up and reveal too much. The problem was that Lee was a detective and very observant. What if Lee realized Carter wasn't having to fake his feelings for him?

Although their friendship had gotten off to a rocky start, they were in a much better place now and he considered Lee his best friend. He didn't want to risk that by acting on his feelings and making a move that could jeopardize their hard won bond. Not to mention the damage it could do to their professional relationship.

The only thing he had on his side was that Lee could often be oblivious when it came to people's feelings but with Carter's luck this would be the one time he decided to take notice.

Lee was being unnervingly quiet on the subject, still staring at the floor, brow furrowing in thought. He hadn't spoken at all and Carter was desperate to know what he was thinking.

"Lee?" he asked tentatively. "You okay with this?"

Lee looked up at him then and Carter tried to decipher his expression. He looked like he was trying to figure out what to say.

"If you don't want it to be me," Lee said finally, voice quiet and hesitant. "Maybe they could find someone else to replace just me."

And Carter felt awful because for whatever reason, Lee thought he was the problem here, thought that Carter couldn't bear to play the part of romantic partners with him specifically.

"What? No!" he exclaimed in answer. "It's not you. It's just the whole pretending to be married thing was a bit of a surprise is all. So you're okay with it then?"

"I have no problem with the assignment," Lee said after a brief moments hesitation. "As long as you don't either." He still sounded uncertain and Carter wanted desperately to reassure him, which was a strange feeling because Lee was usually the unshakable one.

"Of course not!" he answered with more bravado than he felt. "Let's do this! We're going undercover, Lee! We're gonna be the best married couple ever!" He couldn't help some of his earlier enthusiasm from bleeding through and he saw Lee start to relax slightly at his eagerness. Much as the situation wasn't ideal, he had always harbored a childish ideal of the thrills of undercover work and he couldn't wait to give it another go. Hopefully this would turn out better than the undercover teaching assignment they'd had.

~~~

Later, sat around the table at Didi's, Carter was still trying to get his head around the idea. Convincing people that he was attracted to Lee wouldn't be a problem, he just had to stop hiding the fact that he actually was, but faking a whole relationship? That was something else entirely. They had spent most of the day planning the operation in Captain Cole's office, going over the files of the crime scenes so far and information on the people that would soon be their neighbors. His head was swimming with information but he still didn't feel ready.

"So have you guys planned your back story?" Didi asked, taking a bite of pasta.

"Yes," Lee answered. "We met at a party four years ago. I asked him out for a drink and we've been together ever since."

"Wow when you put it like that, it sounds so romantic," Carter exclaimed in a mocking tone, clasping his hands together theatrically. "I don't know why I didn't marry you sooner!"

Lee rolled his eyes good-naturedly and Carter was relieved to see that he looked a lot more relaxed about the situation than he had earlier.

"So, which one of you proposed?" Didi asked, looking far too interested for Carter's liking.

"I did," he told her. "It was beautiful. I set the whole thing up. We were in the park in this little wooden pagoda. There were roses everywhere and I hired a string quartet," he continued, waving his hands dramatically as he embellished the idea. They hadn't actually planned out the proposal story yet but he figured now was as good a time as any.

"There were petals all over the floor and heart shaped paper chains around the pagoda," he carried on, ignoring the way Didi tried to hide a laugh in her cup. "And there were swans!" He broke off when Didi choked on her drink, struggling to cough and laugh at the same time.

"Why were there swans?!" she wheezed, between laughing gasps for breath.

"Hey! It's romantic!" Carter defended. "What's wrong with my proposal?!"

"It is terrible," Lee told him seriously, resting a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"Well we'll see what our new neighbors think shall we?"

"We're not telling anybody that story," Lee answered with an alarmed look and Carter vowed to himself to tell as many people as possible.

"You're just jealous because I'm going to be a better husband than you," he said proudly and Lee gave him that look that he got when he thought Carter was being ridiculous again.

"It is not a competition," Lee said in a long suffering tone that said he knew Carter was going to make it into one.

From there, the conversation swiftly descended into friendly squabbling, food lying forgotten before them as they argued the merits of swans as part of proposals.

"Where would you even get the swans?" Lee demanded and Didi watched them in amusement, unable to keep from laughing as they bickered good-naturedly like, well, like an old married couple.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter and the actual start of their undercover as married mission!

"Alright, here's your phones," Didi said, holding out a couple of cells. "We can't have you taking your own with you. The last thing we need is someone blowing your cover. We've added a load of fake numbers into the contact lists. Call any of them and you should get through to us." Carter took his with a grateful smile, already flipping through the contact list while Lee simply pocketed his cell next to him.

"We've filled the moving van with boxes of belongings for you," Didi continued and Carter looked up from the cell with a frown.

"We don't even get to choose our own stuff?" he asked plaintively and Didi stifled a smile.

"No, Carter, we don't have time for you to choose a whole houseful of stuff. It took you four hours to decide which picture you wanted in your lounge when you moved into your apartment," she said and Carter pulled a face at her.

"It took you four hours to decide on a picture of a dog in a police hat?" Lee asked incredulously, expression of distaste saying exactly what he thought of that picture.

"Hey, that picture is a work of art!" Carter defended, scowling at him. Lee looked like he was about to make a particularly insulting comment about the picture or maybe Carter's taste, or lack thereof, but Didi interrupted them before he had a chance.

"Here's the keys to the moving van," she said quickly diverting the conversation with all the skill of a parent, dropping the keys into Carter's hand as he reached for them. "It's all loaded up. You just have to do the actual moving in. We've already had the furniture put in so at least you don't have to deal with that. See if you can make contact with the neighbors as soon as possible and let us know if you find out anything useful. And be careful, both of you." She gave them both a soft look and Carter wanted to hug her. She'd always been like a sister to him, trying to keep him out of trouble and telling him off when he needed it. And now she'd taken Lee under her wing as well and Carter was extremely grateful. Lee needed someone to look after him too.

"Thank you, Didi," Lee said sincerely.

"Yeah thanks, Didi," Carter agreed fondly. "Alright, let's go. We've got work to do!"

"Oh, and Carter!" Didi called as they walked out of the office and Carter turned to look back at her.

"Yeah?"

"I should warn you," she started, an impish smile spreading across her face. "Donovan helped pick out your new belongings and he's still upset with you about that petty thief throwing up on his shoes."

"Oh _hell_."

~~~

The drive over was quiet. It was slowly sinking in for Carter that they were really doing this. He was going to have to pretend to be married to Lee and do all the things that went along with that; hold his hand, wrap an arm around him, maybe even kiss him. Of course he desperately wanted all of those things but he didn't want them to be pretend. He didn't want it to all be for a case.

With a sigh, he pushed those thoughts away as the house came into view. He was going to do this properly and be professional about it. And he definitely wasn't going to let Lee find out that Carter's feelings for him had nothing to do with acting. He parked the truck in front of the house and was just reaching to open the door when a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Carter," Lee said hesitantly.

"It's James now," Carter interrupted, unable to help himself. "We're supposed to be married. We can't call each other by our last names. Speaking of, do you think it's weird neither of us took the other's name?" That seemed to derail Lee's train of thought and his brow furrowed in a way that Carter always found unfairly adorable as he considered it.

They hadn't really discussed last names. Carter had deliberately avoided the topic, unsure whether he would be able to bear sharing a name with Lee when it wasn't real. The thought of it set off a coil of warmth inside him and he couldn't stand the idea of tainting that dream by making it a part of this charade. Thankfully Captain Cole hadn't really asked them about it and had decided that they would remain James Carter and Jonathan Lee.

"No," Lee said eventually. "Many couples don't take each other's names."

Carter nodded, glad that Lee didn't think it strange, and waited for Lee to carry on with whatever he'd been about to say before Carter interrupted.

"James," Lee started again tentatively, testing the name out, and there was a softness in the way he said it that had Carter wanting to hear it again and again.

"James," Lee said again more confidently, as if hearing Carter's thoughts. He reached into his pocket, hesitating for a moment before pulling his hand out again and uncurling his fingers to reveal a pair of rings.

Carter had completely forgotten about the rings. Didi had shown them to him earlier in the day and even though his mind had gone into overdrive at the imagined image of the two of them wearing matching rings, it had then slipped his mind during the rest of the preparations.

"Oh right!" he exclaimed, reaching out to take his ring and sliding it onto his finger, conscious of the way Lee was still watching him. He looked back up and saw Lee's gaze flick away as he put on his own ring, fingers toying with it nervously.

"I'm not sure I'll be any good at this," Lee admitted quietly, eyes fixed on his ring. It was strange seeing this uncertainty from him. Lee was usually so confident in his quiet, stubborn way and Carter was certain that a few months ago he wouldn't have even admitted to any doubts about this. He was glad though that Lee felt comfortable enough with him to mention it now.

"Hey," he said comfortingly. "You'll do great. You're annoyingly good at everything! And you will be at this too." He watched as Lee ducked his head, a small smile curling on his lips.

"It won't take much to convince them if that's what you're worried about," he carried on. "People don't really question it when they're told someone's in a relationship."

"I know," Lee said, still staring down at his hands and not sounding convinced.

"Look," Carter said reaching out to rest a reassuring hand on Lee's arm. "I'm nervous too. I've never done this before either. My only undercover experience was at the school and look how that went!"

"Thank you," Lee answered, finally meeting his eyes. "It must have been hard for you to admit that." And there was a hint of his usual teasing tone in his voice.

"Yeah, don't tell anyone I said it, alright?" Carter said and Lee smiled properly at him. "Now come on, _Jonathan_. Married life awaits!"

~~~

"I can't believe we have so much stuff!" Carter couldn't help but exclaim part way through emptying the truck. There were boxes upon boxes of supposed personal belongings in the back of the truck and they'd been working their way through them, carrying them into the house and dumping them in whichever room they deemed appropriate. Actually emptying the boxes might have to wait a bit because Carter was going to need a break after lugging all of these inside.

He picked up a box that helpfully said 'kitchen' on the side in Didi's neat handwriting just as Lee appeared outside the truck again.

"It is to fill a whole house," Lee reminded him, placing one box on top of another and lifting both with ease.

"Show off!" Carter shouted after him as he walked away with both boxes. "I can do that too, you know!" He put the box marked 'kitchen' on top of another and hefted them both, fumbling to get a good grip. He hurried after Lee, straining under the weight of the boxes and beginning to regret carrying them both at once, not that he was willing to admit to that. He headed into the kitchen as quickly as he could, wanting to put the boxes down as soon as possible, and set them down on the floor with a thump.

"This is going to take forever to unpack," he complained to Lee who was just turning to go and get more from the truck.

"It will be good exercise for you," Lee answered.

"Are you saying I need exercise?!" Carter demanded, scowling at his partner. "I'll have you know I am in peak condition! I go to the gym all the time! This is easy for me."

"Then you won't mind carrying the rest of the boxes in," Lee said, leaning against the counter as if waiting for Carter to carry on without him. "If it is so easy for you."

"What? No, no, no," Carter argued. "That's not what I meant! You ain't leaving me to carry all of them!"

"But you said-" Lee started and Carter cut him off.

"I know what I said but it'd take me ages to do it all myself," Carter replied, tone turning pleading. "You'll help me, right?"

"Of course I will," Lee said, tone turning smug. "Because I am a good husband." He turned and walked back out of the house towards the truck and Carter was left staring open mouthed after him. But Carter was never speechless for very long.

"You said it wasn't a competition!" he yelled, running after Lee.

"It isn't," Lee tried to say but Carter was already bounding ahead of him to collect more boxes.

"It is so on!" he challenged, looking back in time to see Lee roll his eyes and looking exasperated. He climbed into the back of the truck and picked out another box to carry inside. He was just about to jump down from the truck again when he heard the sound of voices. One of them was Lee's but the other was a woman's. He hopped out of the truck and poked his head around the side to see a petite Hispanic woman talking to Lee. He recognized her as Maria Sanchez from the files of information they'd had to read about the residents of the street.

"James!" Lee called out, turning and beckoning him over when he saw him looking. Carter hurried over, plastering a friendly smile across his face.

"This is my husband James," Lee said, sliding a warm hand into Carter's and lacing their fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world. It sent a shiver of warmth through Carter and he was suddenly very aware of how close Lee was standing at his side. It shouldn't have affected Carter so much but it felt so right and he never wanted to let go.

"Hi, I'm Maria Sanchez from number eight," Maria said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of her house with one hand and reaching out to shake Carter's with the other.

"James Carter," he said in response, using his free hand to shake hers.

"It's lovely to meet you," she smiled. "It'll be so nice to have new neighbors."

"Why? What's wrong with the current ones?" Lee asked and Carter elbowed him in the ribs for his bluntness.

"Jonathan!" he hissed but Maria just laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with them!" she said with a smile. "It's just nice to meet new people that's all."

"Well I'm sure they're great people. We'd love to meet them," Carter said. "We were thinking of inviting everyone over for drinks tomorrow night. Y'know celebrate the move and get to know the neighbors. You should come!"

"That sounds lovely!" Maria enthused, bobbing on her heels. "We're a real tight knit group in this street. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to meet you. I can spread the word for you if you like."

"That would be very helpful," Lee told her. "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," Carter added. "So come over about eight tomorrow evening?"

"I'll be there," Maria promised with a bright smile. "Anyway, I should let you two get on. I'll see you tomorrow!" She gave them a friendly wave and turned to walk back down the street to her house. They called their goodbyes after her and Lee let his hand slip out of Carter's. He felt suddenly bereft without the warm touch, the air unexpectedly cool against his skin, but Lee seemed unaffected, already walking back around the truck to collect more boxes for the house. With a sigh Carter followed.

~~~

A few hours later saw Carter successfully managing to connect the TV, having decided that it was high priority. He could hear Lee moving around in the kitchen, organizing the dishes into a neat system and Carter could already tell he was going to get complained at if he didn't stick to it. There were still a lot of boxes scattered throughout the house that needed unpacking but they had managed to make a significant dent and he was rather pleased with how much they'd gotten through.

He collapsed back onto the couch with a sigh, tipping his head back into the cushions.

"I think it's time we break for dinner," he called out towards the kitchen. He heard quiet footsteps and rolled his head to the side to see Lee appear in the doorway. He was wearing a suit as usual despite Carter's best efforts to convince him that actual humans sometimes wore casual clothes. He had made the small concession of rolling his sleeves up though which had proven incredibly distracting and Carter had found it hard to keep his eyes off of the bare skin of his arms.

"We don't have any food," Lee said with a frown as if it had only just occurred to him.

"We can get some tomorrow," Carter said. "Let's just order takeaway tonight." Lee nodded, looking around at their new lounge uncertainly and for a moment he looked so lost that Carter just wanted to hug him. He suddenly remembered how important home seemed to be to Lee and the trouble they'd had finding him somewhere to live before Gerald had had the idea of moving him into Didi's.

He felt kind of bad for taking Lee away from the comfort and homeliness of Didi's and making him live in this strange new house for a case when he was already trying to fit into an entirely new country. He wondered what it was like to have your life uprooted in a matter of days and find yourself in a country that you didn't entirely understand.

"Do you miss it?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Miss what?" Lee asked, head tilting to one side as he looked at him.

"Hong Kong," Carter clarified.

"Yes," Lee answered coming to sit on the couch next to him. "Hong Kong was my home for most of my life. Everything is so different here."

"It must have been hard to just up and move all that way," Carter said, watching Lee's expression carefully.

"It was. I didn't know anybody here and I had just lost Kim," Lee said, tone sad. He frowned down at his hands, fingers toying restlessly with his ring.

"Do... Do you want to go back?" Carter asked, dreading the answer. He didn't know what he'd do if Lee said he did. He couldn't bear the thought of losing him if he did decide to leave.

"No," Lee answered after a moment and a surge of relief ran through Carter. "Not anymore. When I first came here, I wanted so much to go back. Everything here was strange and new and I had never felt so out of place. But then I met people that cared and tried to help." His eyes darted up to meet Carters with a look that could only be described as fond.

"Now I have a home and friends," he continued. "Even though I miss it, there is nothing left for me in Hong Kong. My home is here." There was a beat of silence during which Carter watched Lee, feeling suddenly emotional and choked up.

"Awww Jonathan," he said, a wave of overwhelming affection filling him. "I think that's the sappiest thing I've ever heard." He was trying for mocking but he was fairly sure he didn't manage to hide the emotion in his voice because Lee didn't try to stop him when he leaned forwards to hug him tightly. He held on for a moment, heart skipping a beat when Lee even curled his arms around Carter in return, and then pulled back, not wanting to make Lee uncomfortable. Lee still looked a bit sad but he looked a lot less lost than he had at the start of the conversation.

"Hey, why don't we order dinner from that Chinese place you like?" Carter offered in an attempt to completely get rid of that sad look.

"That sounds good. Thank you," Lee said gratefully.

~~~

A couple of hours later, they were lounging on the couch watching the tail end of a movie about invading aliens. The Chinese food had all been eaten and Carter was slumped back on the couch, dozing off as he tried to watch the movie, eyes drooping tiredly. His head tipped forward but an explosion on screen jolted him back awake.

"All right that's it," he said, rubbing at his eyes to pull himself back to alertness and sitting forward. "I need to sleep." Lee looked across at him for a moment before reaching out to grab the remote and turn the TV off. They stood up and that's when Carter realized what the next problem would be; they were supposed to be married and that meant sleeping together in the same bed.

He followed Lee up the stairs, heart pounding in his chest with nerves. Their room was actually quite spacious with a double bed in the center and a large window in one wall. Carter dug around in the chest of drawers off to one side and pulled out a pair of sweatpants, thankful that they'd been allowed to bring their own clothes. He usually slept topless but he didn't want to make things more awkward than they had to be so he grabbed a t shirt too and then took the coward's way out, scurrying into the bathroom to change.

Once he was changed and ready, he stared at himself in the mirror and took a few deep, calming breaths, pressing his palms against the cold porcelain of the sink. It was just sharing a bed with his best friend. That was all. Of course what that actually translated to was sharing a bed with the man he was in love with but wasn't brave enough to tell for fear of losing him. He scrubbed his hands over his face with a sigh, internally berating himself for getting so worked up over sharing a bed. Romantic feelings aside, Lee was still his best friend.

"You can do this," he told his reflection quietly before opening the bathroom door.

When he got back to the bedroom, Lee had already changed and gotten into bed, lying on his back with his eyes closed. Carter hovered uncertainly at the side of the bed, trying to summon the courage to climb in.

"Just get in," Lee told him, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Carter asked. "I can sleep on the couch if you like or-"

"You are being stupid," Lee responded. "Get in and go to sleep." Hearing Lee be so dismissive of the idea that there might be any problem with this helped calm Carter's nerves. He crawled in next to him, turning to face away from his partner and curling up under the covers.

"Goodnight, _darling_ ," he couldn't help jibing, despite his worries, because Carter never could keep his mouth shut, especially when he was nervous. He reached out to turn off the light and the room was plunged into blackness.

"Goodnight, James," Lee sighed in the darkness and Carter could practically hear him rolling his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's chapter 3, wherein the finally start their new life as a fake married couple!
> 
> I hope you guys like it!

Carter was woken the next morning by a warm hand on his arm gently shaking him awake.

"James?" Lee said and Carter opened his eyes blearily to find his partner kneeling on the bed next to him, already fully dressed for the day.

"Ugh," Carter groaned, burying his head in the pillow. "I should have known you were an early bird."

"I am not a bird," Lee said and Carter found the energy to look up just in time to see that adorable confused expression he got when he didn't understand a phrase.

"It's an expression," he told him, turning his face into the pillow again and trying to pull the duvet up further, hampered by the way Lee was sat on top of it.

"Don't go back to sleep," Lee said firmly, pulling at his arm. "You have to get up."

"Whyyy?" Carter whined. "We just moved in. Can't I celebrate by sleeping in."

"I thought we were celebrating by inviting the neighbors over for drinks tonight," Lee answered. "But we don't have any drinks. Or food. We need to go grocery shopping and we still have to unpack the rest of the boxes." Carter knew when he was beaten. There was no hope of him getting to sleep in now.

"Fine!" he said sighed, giving up on sleep and sitting up. "You win." Lee smiled at him in triumph and Carter's breath caught in his chest for a moment. He watched as Lee scrambled off the bed, somehow managing to make even that look graceful.

"You could have at least made me breakfast in bed!" he called after him.

"We don't have any food!" Lee shouted back.

~~~

A couple of hours and one grocery shopping trip later, they managed to return with enough food for the coming week and plenty of drinks for that evening. The house was looking decidedly more homely now that the kitchen was fully stocked and they had unpacked most of the boxes. It was the kind of place Carter would have liked to live if his relationship with Lee had been real.

Having put the groceries away, Carter returned to unpacking the last of the boxes. There was a pile of them that had ended up in the dining room and he was sifting through them when he found one labelled with a scruffy 'James' in black marker pen. Frowning, he pulled the box open and let out a surprised yelp, stumbling backwards as he saw the contents.

"What's wrong?" Lee called out from the lounge.

"I'm gonna kill Donovan is what's wrong!" Carter yelled back.

"Why? What did he do?" Lee asked coming into the room.

"This is what he did!" Carter said pointing at the box, which was full of china dolls. "He gave us a box of creepy ass dolls!" He watched the edges of Lee's mouth tip up slightly.

"Was that a smirk?" Carter exclaimed. "You think this is funny?"

"Of course not," Lee said, clearly trying to hide a smile. "I'm very sorry that you are scared of dolls."

"I'm not scared of them. They're just creepy. It's like they're watching me."

"Then put them away," Lee said, reaching out to close the box. "There. They cannot watch you anymore." He had an amused look in his eyes and Carter knew when he was being mocked. He scowled and grabbed the box away from Lee, shoving it into a gap between a cabinet and the wall.

"This is all because that guy threw up on Donovan's shoes," he complained. "How was that my fault?"

"It is probably more to do with how much you laughed," Lee answered seriously.

"It was funny okay!" Carter defended and Lee actually smiled. "See! You thought it was funny too! He's just too scared to do anything to you 'cause you might use your ninja moves on him."

"I would never attack a fellow police officer," Lee answered.

"Not even a little bit? What if I asked nicely?" Carter asked, tone pleading.

"No," was the flat answer to that.

"But you're my husband!" Carter whined, pouting at him.

"That does not mean I have to beat people up for you," Lee pointed out solemnly.

"Even if he's an ass?"

"Even if he is an ass," Lee confirmed.

"You're no fun," Carter grumbled.

~~~

When their neighbors arrived that evening, Carter had managed to cycle from nervous through calm and back to nervous again by the time he let them in. This would be the first real test of how convincing they were as a couple and he couldn't help but worry about it. Not to mention that they needed to subtly investigate their neighbors at the same time.

There were a lot of names to remember as each of their guests introduced themselves on arrival and he was thankful for the time he'd spent studying their files that had allowed him to memorize them in advance.

"Richard Bryant," the latest arrival introduced himself. "This is my wife Carla."

"Hi, I'm James Carter. It's lovely to meet you," Carter replied shaking their hands. "My husband Jonathan is uh... around somewhere." He looked around, trying to catch sight of his partner and saw him talking to another of their neighbors nearby.

"Jonathan!" he called, waving him over when he looked across. "This is Richard and Carla Bryant."

"It is lovely to meet you," Lee said, coming to join them and shaking their hands. "Thank you for coming."

"Oh it's no problem," Carla replied. "It's so nice to have new neighbors. Are you new to Los Angeles?"

"No, James was born here and I've been here for about five years now," Lee answered. They'd had to change the timescale of his move to America to fit with the length of their relationship.

"Where were you living before?" Richard asked.

"Hong Kong," Lee answered and Carla gasped in delight.

"Oh I love Hong Kong!" she gushed. "The harbor is beautiful! And the city skyline is just stunning, especially at night, isn't it?"

"It is beautiful," Lee agreed. "You've been there?"

"I went there once on an art expedition with the college," she explained. "I'm part of a community art group at the local college and we try to visit somewhere new every couple of years. I spent a lot of time painting at the top of Victoria Peak." Carter listened as the discussion turned towards the best views in Hong Kong and he watched with affection the way Lee's face lit up as he talked about the place that had been his home for so long.

"She's always like this when you get her talking about art or beautiful places. And don't even get me started on her knowledge of art history," Richard said, watching his wife fondly in much the same manner that Carter had been watching Lee. "I didn't get to go with her to Hong Kong unfortunately. Work was hectic at the time."

"Oh? What do you do?" Carter asked.

"I'm an architect," Richard replied. "I know, it sounds boring but it's actually really interesting."

"I didn't say it wasn't," Carter said but he pulled a face that said otherwise and Richard laughed good naturedly.

"It's not everyone's cup of tea, I'll admit," he confessed. "Oh! Before I forget, we're having a barbecue tomorrow evening. The whole street is coming and you're welcome to join us if you're free."

"That sounds great," Carter agreed. "We'll be there." It would give them a good opportunity to carry on finding out more about their neighbors. They did have a case to work after all, even if Carter wanted nothing more than to carry on playing the part of Lee's husband.

Carter was about to ask Richard a few more questions in an attempt to glean more information towards working out if he could be the thief they were looking for when Lee nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. His attention snapped back to the conversation Lee was having with Carla just in time to hear her next comment.

"Yes, I heard six of them have been stolen now," she was saying. "But quite frankly they deserved to have those paintings stolen from them anyway."

"Why do you say that?" Lee asked.

"Those people didn't appreciate them," she said fiercely. "They just used them to pretend that they're sophisticated and show off to their posh friends!" How Lee had managed to get her onto the topic of the art thefts so quickly, Carter didn't know but he was undoubtedly impressed by it. Carla for her part was looking outraged and seemed to be working up to quite a rant. It was clearly a pet topic for her but her husband seemed to see where it was heading too.

"Come now, Darling," Richard said soothingly. "I'm sure our new neighbors don't want to hear about crime!" That was exactly what they wanted to hear about, Carter thought but Richard was already leading Carla away from them. He exchanged a look with Lee; Carla was definitely worth investigating further.

"She could be the thief," Lee said, once they were out of hearing range.

Carter nodded. "She certainly seemed angry enough at the victims. We need to find out more about her. Luckily, we just got invited to a barbecue at their house tomorrow evening!" he grinned triumphantly. "Now c'mon. There's plenty of other people here too. It might be one of them instead."

Deciding to mingle with the other guests, he took Lee's hand, enjoying the feeling of intimacy it elicited, and pulled him into what was now a small crowd milling around their lounge and kitchen. Lee followed him willingly, staying close by his side as they joined a nearby conversation, hands still linked.

~~~

A few hours later, everybody was still laughing and drinking happily. Carter had become separated from Lee at some point and found himself talking to Maria instead.

"I'm a science teacher," she told him and he grimaced.

"I was terrible at science," he said. "My teacher hated me. I accidentally set fire to a trash can one time."

"Oh no!" she laughed. "I'm glad I haven't had that happen." That started off a discussion of incidents she had had happen and Carter was surprised by how long the list was. He didn't mention that he'd managed to do a few of those as well as the trash can fire. As the discussion came to an end, he started to wonder where Lee had disappeared to. He hadn't seen him in a while.

He looked around for him and eventually spotted him talking to a woman across the room. She was beautiful, hair elegantly styled with half of it up and the other half tumbling down her back in soft ringlets. Her dress was backless and showed off her figure in a way that would have had Carter falling over himself if it weren't for the way his eyes kept straying to Lee. He watched as the woman, Cindy he remembered from the files, stepped in close to Lee and put her hand on his arm, smiling flirtatiously up at him. She said something to him, dipping her head coyly and tracing a finger down his arm.

Jealousy surged hotly through Carter's chest and he looked away, feeling immediately guilty. He had no right to be jealous when his relationship with Lee was completely fake but that didn't stop the ache in his heart at the idea of Lee with someone else.

"I think you should go save your husband," Maria pulled him out of his thoughts, having followed his gaze with a sympathetic smile. Carter looked back over at them and his jealousy dissipated when he saw the alarmed look on his partner's face. Lee was saying something back to Cindy and it looked like he was actually _stammering_.

"Cindy's harmless enough," Maria continued. "But she'll flirt with anyone once she's had a couple of drinks."

"Yeah, I'll be right back," Carter said with a nod, already moving away. He made his way across the room, keeping his eyes on Lee as he maneuvered around the groups of people.

"Hey," he said when he reached them, breaking into the conversation and sliding an arm around Lee's waist, forcing Cindy to step back. Lee curled an arm around Carter's shoulders in response, relaxing against him and giving him a thankful look. They were pressed together closely, the line of Lee's body a welcome warmth against his and Carter turned his body into him without thinking.

"I wondered where you'd got to," Carter said softly, tipping his head to rest on Lee's shoulder. He knew he was playing it up but he couldn't help himself. "Hey, I think Maria was hoping to catch you at some point," he said, offering him an out and Lee took it gratefully.

"I'll go and find her," he said, pausing for a moment and then extracting himself from Carter's arms with artfully acted reluctance.

"It's a shame he's taken," Cindy said as they watched him leave. "He's _very_ handsome."

"I know, right," Carter replied, maybe a little too emphatically and Cindy laughed.

"You're a very lucky man," she said, tipping her glass to him graciously, with no trace of bad feeling, and Carter found that he couldn't dislike her after all.

"I know," he said again, voice softer as his gaze drifted back to Lee. Maybe his partner felt him watching because he looked up, meeting his gaze, and smiled that smile that always made Carter melt a little inside. It was a good thing Lee didn't know the affect it had on him because Carter would do pretty much anything for that smile and if Lee ever realized that, he was pretty sure he'd use it ruthlessly.

He couldn't stop the sappy smile that spread across his face in response the moment Lee looked away and he knew he must look ridiculous but he couldn't help himself. Lee just had that effect on him. Damn, he loved that man.

"Wow you have it bad," Cindy said, watching him with a smile and Carter shook himself out of it quickly.

"Well we are married!" Carter defended, feeling like a fraud. "What you think people just get hitched for the hell of it?"

"You'd be surprised," she replied serenely. "Some people seem to." She sent a significant look over his shoulder but before he could see who it was directed at, her gaze was caught by someone else.

"Oh look, there's Mark," she said, giving the man in question a small, flirtatious wave. "I'll see you later, James. Look after that husband of yours. He's a keeper." With that said and a last friendly smile, she drifted off towards Mark, leaving Carter alone.

~~~

Falling into bed that evening was a relief after hours of trying to subtly question their neighbors. Carter had spent most of the evening steadily finding out about their lives and trying to appear interested enough to get them talking but not so interested that it became creepy. He'd managed to find out a fair amount about each of them but apart from Carla's outburst about the paintings, neither he nor Lee had discovered anything that pointed towards a definite suspect, although Lee had discovered that Mr and Mrs Matherson from number five had been on vacation at the time of one of the thefts, ruling them out as suspects.

Tomorrow they intended to use the barbecue at the Bryant's to get to know their neighbors better and perhaps find out more about Carla, the only person to have actually mentioned the thefts, and with such vehemence too.

For now, Carter was exhausted. Unlike their guests, they had had to work through the evening, paying attention to everything. He lay on his back in bed, one arm flung over his head, slowly drifting off to sleep but just unable to make that final transition to unconsciousness. Lee was already asleep next to him and Carter turned his head to the side to look at him.

Lee's face was soft in the moonlight that shone gently through a gap in the curtains. He looked relaxed and peaceful, unguarded in a way that Carter didn't usually get to see. He wanted to reach out and touch him, suddenly filled with a tenderness that took him by surprise. Lee made a small noise in his throat and Carter turned his head away quickly, sure that he was about to wake and not wanting to be caught staring.

But instead, Lee turned onto his side, rolling closer to Carter and sliding an arm around his waist, fingers skimming across his chest to curl against his ribs. Carter froze, breath catching in his throat as he lay motionless in the dark. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt certain that Lee would hear it but after a few long moments he slowly turned his head to look back at Lee and found him still deeply asleep.

He was overwhelmingly close, face resting against the edge of Carter's shoulder, breaths soft and slow, fanning across the skin of Carter's arm with each exhalation and leaving goose bumps in their wake. His arm was a comforting weight across Carter's stomach and it sent his pulse thrumming through his veins at the sudden proximity. Frozen in place, Carter waited for any sign that Lee was going to wake up, feeling each slow second as it ticked by. He was hyper aware of every point of contact between the two of them, conscious of the shallow movement of Lee's chest as he breathed steadily against him.

When Lee showed no sign of waking as the minutes crawled by, Carter relaxed against him, heartbeat starting to slow to a normal pace. He lay in the dark, listening to the soothing rhythm of Lee's breaths in the quiet room and enjoying his solid presence. It was blissfully warm cocooned in the duvet with Lee pressed against him, his body heat seeping through their clothes. It was enough to make his eyelids droop and turn his thoughts sluggish.

Fighting to stay awake, he sleepily studied Lee's face from this close angle, reveling in this chance to see him like this. He told himself he would pull away in a minute but his exhaustion was catching up with him and his eyes were growing heavy and unfocused. That, and the comforting press of Lee's body against his, soon had him tipping over into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little more case based because they do actually need to find things out at some point! But there's still plenty of moments between Carter and Lee because let's be honest, that's what we're all here for. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Carter woke to sunshine spilling through a gap in the curtains, filling the room with it's warm glow. He stretched an arm out without really thinking about it, hand skimming across smooth sheets, and found the space next to him already empty and cold. He buried his head in the pillow with a groan, missing the heat of another body curled against him, the faint almost dreamlike sensation of warm skin against his.

Memories of last night came flooding back in a sudden rush and he sat bolt upright. He hadn't meant to fall asleep still curled up with Lee but he had. He had meant to pull away but the warmth and feeling of closeness had overwhelmed his sense of reason and he had dozed off. What if Lee had woken up to find them still wrapped around each other? What if he freaked out because he thought Carter couldn't keep his hands to himself? Okay, Lee had been the one to start it when he slid an arm around Carter's waist but he had been asleep so he wouldn't know that.

He was still busy working himself up into a panic when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He froze, watching the door as it swung open and Lee shuffled in carrying a tray. He was concentrating on keeping the tray level but then he looked up, eyes meeting Carter's and smiled warmly, absolutely no sign of anything being amiss. Instantly the cold anxiety in Carter's chest melted away as if it had never existed and he relaxed in relief that he hadn't screwed this up.

Maybe they had moved apart in the night or maybe Lee just didn't mind waking up wrapped around each other. Carter wished it was the latter with all his heart but he knew how unlikely it was and he couldn't let himself think that without making all of this much harder for himself.

That was all swept out of his mind, however, by the shocking realization that Lee was wearing casual clothes. So far Lee had still been refusing to be parted from his suits, even when moving in, although he had made the concession of rolling his sleeves up. But now he was wearing dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt, bare feet treading softly on the carpet. It was a sight that Carter hadn't realized he wanted to see until now and he couldn't tear his eyes away. He'd always kind of assumed that Lee didn't even own anything casual but here was the proof otherwise. He had no idea what had inspired this sudden change but he wasn't complaining.

"You're wearing jeans," he breathed, still stunned. Lee frowned at him, halting at the side of the bed, his hands still clasping the tray to his chest.

"I-I mean, you're not wearing a suit. We'll make a regular human of you yet, Lee!" Carter attempted to joke, trying to cover his reaction to Lee's attire and it seemed to work because Lee rolled his eyes and set the tray down on the bed. It took an embarrassingly long moment for Carter to realize that there were two plates of pancakes on the tray because he was too busy watching the way Lee's hair fell forward when he bent over.

"I made breakfast," Lee said, moving to sit cross legged on the bed and taking one of the plates for himself. Carter almost pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming because here was Lee in casual clothes having just made him breakfast in bed. It was quite honestly the most surreal moment of the case so far and that was saying something because they were pretending to be married.

He shook himself out of it, forcing himself to focus on the syrup covered pancakes in front of him. They did smell delicious.

"Thanks, man. This looks great!" he exclaimed, grabbing the second plate enthusiastically. He shoveled a forkful into his mouth and closed his eyes in bliss at the sweet taste.

"Damn, Lee! These are amazing!" he managed to say around it and Lee beamed at him, smile making his eyes crinkle at the edges in a way that always sent Carter's heart skittering. They ate in companionable silence and Carter couldn't stop himself from sneaking looks at Lee to appreciate the view. He looked so relaxed and for a brief moment it felt like they actually could have been a happily married couple enjoying a peaceful breakfast in bed. It felt so domestic and Carter had never been one for domesticity but there, with Lee, it felt like the most wonderful thing in the world.

~~~

The rest of the day passed lazily. There wasn't much to do until the Bryants' barbecue that evening so Carter spent most of the day watching TV. That earned him a few judging comments from Lee but Carter wasn't going to waste what amounted to a day off. He also didn't point out that Lee joined him for most of it anyway.

When the time came for them to head over to the Bryants' there were already plenty of people there. Carter recognized all of them from the previous evening. Clearly the people living in the crescent really were a tight knit group.

"Hey, it's good to see you," Carla said as she ushered them into the backyard. "Sorry for being so intense yesterday."

"You mean about the art thefts?" Carter asked.

"Yeah, I can get a bit overwhelming when it comes to art," she answered. "It's just those people only used the paintings as a status symbol. Art should be appreciated and enjoyed, you know?"

"You said they deserved to have them stolen," Lee stated.

"Well they certainly don't deserve to have them," she said, a glimmer of that fierceness coming back into her eyes. Then she sighed. "But it's not good that they were stolen. Now they'll be hidden away where they can't be enjoyed. That's even worse than them being owned by people that don't appreciate them."

"That does sound like a shame," Carter agreed and Carla nodded.

"It really is. Anyway, I'd better go and check how Richard's doing with the barbecue," she said before heading across the lawn to her husband.

"I do not think she did it," Lee said as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Me neither," Carter replied. "She seemed genuinely sad that the paintings are gone."

"We should still see if we can find an opportunity to look around their house though," Lee suggested. "Just in case it is one of them."

"Agreed. I don't think it's Carla but while we're here we may as well snoop around if we get the chance," Carter said. "In the meantime, let's see what we can find out from everyone else."

~~~

"So how's the moving in going?" Maria asked him as they stood on the patio watching Richard cooking at the barbecue. Lee had wandered off again and was talking to some of their other neighbors further down the backyard.

"Great. I think we've unpacked everything now," Carter replied. "I didn't realize we had so much! I'm so glad we took the time off work for it though. Moving is exhausting!"

"Yeah when I moved, I ended up throwing so much out just because I didn't want to unpack it," she agreed with a laugh.

"I'd love to do that but I think Jonathan would kill me," Carter joked. "At least it's all done now. I can spend the weekend relaxing. Maybe I'll convince Jonathan we should have a movie marathon." He wasn't sure if Lee would agree to that but he could always live in hope. And if he secretly wished that they could just curl up on the couch together then that was his wish and Lee definitely didn't need to know.

"That sounds lovely," Maria said with a wistful expression. "I, on the other hand, have to drive six hours tomorrow morning."

"Oh? Where are you going?"

"To visit my mom. She's not been very well so I've been going to see her every weekend for the past three weeks," she answered. "Now I love her, don't get me wrong, but it's so tiring driving that far and then coming all the way back the next day."

"That's rough. I hope she's better soon," Carter said sympathetically, quickly doing the math in his head. One of the paintings had been stolen the weekend before last so if he could corroborate Maria's story it would give her an alibi and rule her out as a suspect.

"Oh it's nothing life threatening," she replied, waving off his concern. "It's just making her miserable and she needs some company."

It was then that Richard started dishing out food and Maria hurried off to get some, leaving Carter alone.

"We should take a look around upstairs while they are busy with food," Lee said quietly next to him and Carter almost jumped out of his skin, making a high pitched yelp of surprise.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" he hissed when Lee's mouth twitched into an amused smile.

"I didn't sneak. You weren't paying attention."

"Well I wasn't expecting you and your ninja skills to be creeping around!" Carter accused with a pout.

"Ninja is Japanese," Lee said, although there was no rebuke in his tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Carter said. "Go and do your ninja sneaking thing inside the house. Maybe we can find something to prove if one of the Bryants is our thief."

"Okay. You stay here and make sure nobody follows," Lee said and before Carter could protest that he wanted to come too, he had disappeared into the house.

While Lee was gone, Carter kept an eye on everyone there but none of them made any move to go inside, never mind upstairs. He wondered which of the people here was hiding another life as an art thief. They all looked so normal, standing around in the backyard, talking and enjoying the food but he'd seen enough criminals that had appeared normal at first glance over the years to know that that didn't mean anything.

It didn't seem like long before he saw Lee slip back out of the house and make his way over to Carter's side.

"Nothing," Lee said when he reached him. "I couldn't find anything to suggest either of them are the thief."

"But nothing to show they're not either, aside from Carla being sad about the paintings," Carter sighed, linking their hands together just because he could. "How are we supposed to figure out who it is when we can't even question them properly?"

"It has only been two days," Lee reminded him, squeezing his hand comfortingly. "It takes time but they will slip up at some point."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Come on, let's get something to eat," Carter said, tugging Lee along by the hand as he headed for the food.

~~~

"How's the catering business going?" Maria was asking a woman, Lucille Miller if Carter remembered correctly, as they filled their plates.

"Business is booming," Lucille replied. "We had another event yesterday just out of town. You should have seen the place, Maria. It was huge! They had swimming pools, plural!"

"Oh wow, I could do with a house like that!" Maria said sounding awed.

"It was nothing on the Smythes' house though," Lucille continued. "We catered an event there a few months ago and let me tell you, that place was amazing." That caught Carter's attention and he shared a quick look with Lee, finding him just as interested. The Smythes were one of the families that had fallen victim to the art thief.

"It must be so great getting to see all of these amazing houses with your job," Maria gushed as Carter and Lee hovered nearby, listening in.

"Oh it is," Lucille agreed. "Some of them are just ridiculous though. I mean, who needs four dining rooms? What do you even do with that many?"

"I certainly wouldn't complain!" Maria laughed.

"Me neither! So how's the teaching going? Got any more horror stories for me?" Lucille asked.

"Oh yes. The other day-" Maria started and Carter watched as they drifted away from the table together.

"That could be something," he said quietly to Lee.

"If they catered an event at the Smythes a few months ago, that would have been before their painting was stolen," Lee said. "She could have used the opportunity to find out about the security."

"A catering company would be a good way to scope out houses before actually attempting the theft," Carter agreed. "And it sounds like they only cater for the rich."

"We should ask Didi to find out more about this catering company and see if they've catered for any of the other victims recently," Lee decided and Carter nodded in agreement, making a mental note to text her at the end of the evening with any information they had.

~~~

As the evening drew on, the light faded and the air started to cool. Everyone had migrated to the patio, sitting and enjoying a few drinks as night fell. Carter's attention skittered between conversations listening out for anything that could help their investigation. His initial excitement at going undercover had been dampened slightly by the reality of it all. So far there definitely hadn't been any of the action sequences he'd dreamed of but as Lee had pointed out, it had only been two days and they did have a couple of leads to look into.

Despite the lack of excitement, it had actually been nice in a strange sort of way. It was a relief to have a break and take some time to relax. It seemed like there was going to be a lot of down time; they couldn't spend all their time with the neighbors after all. And it was nice to spend the time with Lee, although the situation wasn't doing anything to dampen his feelings for his partner. But then, he'd long since accepted that those feelings weren't going away any time soon.

His gaze drifted over to Lee as it often did. He was sat across from Carter, listening to Richard and Mark talking about something to do with the economy. Carter had zoned out when that conversation had started. He watched as Lee wrapped his arms around himself, hunching his shoulders slightly.

"You alright over there, Jonathan?" Carter asked.

"It's cold," Lee complained, tucking his arms tighter around himself and Carter just wanted to curl around him and warm him up, an idea that sent a shiver of heat through him. It seemed like he wasn't the only one with that idea though because Cindy shot him an expectant look. Carter silently resigned himself to the fact that the universe seemed to be out to get him.

"Come here," he said, raising an arm towards Lee and beckoning him over into the space beside him on the bench. Lee hesitated for a moment, eyes flicking over to their neighbors and seeing them watching. Then he seemed to make his mind up and he scurried over to curl into the gap at Carter's side, pressing against him on the small bench.

Carter wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer to try and warm him up. He pointedly tried not to think too much about how close he was or the feeling of his body curled against him. Lee's skin was chilled under Carter's hands so he rubbed them up and down his bare arms, hoping that he wasn't going to make Lee feel too awkward with all this touching.

Lee however didn't seem to have any problem with their position, even pressing one of his hands against the warm skin of Carter's neck and making him jump at the sudden cold sensation. If he did feel at all uncomfortable then Carter had to commend him for his acting because he wasn't showing a hint of discomfort.

"You are very warm," Lee said appreciatively, resting his head on Carter's shoulder and Maria made an 'aww' sound that Carter chose to ignore, especially when it was echoed by some of the others.

"It's one of my many good traits," Carter said, grinning widely. "Like my stunning good looks, natural charm and incredible intellect."

"And of course your humility," Lee murmured against his collarbone and a wave of laughter washed over the group.

Carter listened distractedly as the conversation turned to some celebrity or other but his attention was mostly on Lee, unable to keep himself from enjoying the feeling of having him in his arms. He took Lee's hands in his own, rubbing warmth into them with his fingers in slow movements. One of his fingers brushed over Lee's wedding band and he was struck by a sudden sense of yearning for what he couldn't have.

He wanted so desperately to have this for real. He wanted to be able to hold Lee whenever he wanted, to carry on like this even when the case was over. He wanted it with such an intensity that he ached with it but he knew that when they found their thief, this would all come to an abrupt end as if it had never happened. They would go back to being friends and partners and touches would become rare. He certainly wouldn't be allowed to do this.

Their time here would become just a faint memory for him to cling to whenever he felt most hopeless about his feelings for Lee, when he felt lonely enough to want to relive these moments of closeness. He knew he was moping but the reality of Lee pressed against him like that had brought home the fact that, for Lee at least, this was all a pretense.

With a sigh, he pulled himself out of it before he could let any of it show on his face. The last thing he needed was any of the neighbours wondering why he was sad or starting to question their relationship.

As the evening wore on, Carter paid careful attention to the conversations around him, filing away each detail about the personal lives of everyone present and trying to integrate himself into the group. The friendlier they were with all the suspects, the easier it would be to gain information from them so he made sure to join in enthusiastically. Lee made a comment occasionally but, for the most part, seemed content to let Carter do most of the talking which, Carter reflected, was their usual state of play anyway. Lee did seem to grow quieter as it got later, however, and Carter caught him trying to keep his eyes open a few times.

Eventually it got late enough that people started to leave, drifting away to their own homes. When there were only a few people left, Carter decided that it was time they got going too. Lee had been dozing against his shoulder for the better part of an hour now but he hadn't wanted to wake him and ruin the peaceful feeling that coiled inside him.

"Jonathan? Time to go. Are you with me?" he asked, running a hand down Lee's arm.

"James?" Lee mumbled, voice low and sleepy, and damn, that made Carter feel warm all over.

"Yeah c'mon. It's time to go," he said softly, reaching out to touch Lee's cheek with his fingertips before he could stop himself. Lee's eyes fluttered open and Carter found himself caught, unable to look away from that dark gaze. He wanted desperately to kiss him and found himself swaying forwards slightly against his better judgement. But then Lee shifted a little, seeming to wake up more, and pulled back, breaking the moment before Carter could do something stupid.

"I fell asleep," Lee said with a frown. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. What are partners for if not for using as pillows occasionally?" Carter grinned, nudging his arm.

"It was unprofessional of me," Lee stated quietly enough that only Carter would hear, sounding annoyed at himself. Carter sighed, watching as Lee stood and headed for the house. Of course Lee was going to beat himself up over this. He always held himself to a much higher standard than anyone else.

He followed Lee inside, finding him talking to the Bryants.

"The food was delicious. Thank you," he was saying as Carter approached.

"Yeah thanks for a lovely evening," Carter added as he reached them. "We should get going though. It's getting late."

"Oh it was nothing," Carla said with a smile. "Thank you for coming."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries they left and headed back across the crescent to their own house.

"I'm just going to text Didi, ask her to check out that catering company," Carter said, pulling out his phone and starting to tap out a message as Lee closed the front door behind them.

"Tell her about Maria's alibi as well," Lee said, peering over his shoulder to see what he'd written. "She might be able to confirm it for us."

Carter hummed in agreement, adding that information too and trying not to be distracted by how close Lee was standing and the memory of holding him in his arms. He just wanted to go back to that moment; to the warmth and closeness that made it almost easy to believe that they could be together like that. It had felt so effortless, as if it was simply a natural progression of their current relationship and he wished with all his heart that it didn't have to be a deception. He wanted so badly to tell Lee how he really felt about him but he was terrified of losing everything they had. He didn't know what he'd do without Lee as a best friend.

"Alright, done," he said, pulling himself out of those thoughts and hitting the send button, feeling a sudden sense of loss as Lee stepped away from him. He slid the phone into his pocket and yawned widely, suddenly tired.

"Let's get some sleep," he suggested, starting to head for the stairs. "We can see if Didi's found anything tomorrow." Lee made a tired sound of agreement and Carter didn't look back but he heard his soft footsteps start to follow him up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's another chapter and things are starting to progress a bit more for Carter and Lee!
> 
> I hope you like it!

"Maria Sanchez's alibi checks out," Didi said when they called her the next morning. "Turns out her mom is in a residential home so I called them and one of the nurses said Maria has been there every weekend for the past three weeks, which means she was there when the Andersons' painting was stolen."

"So that rules her out," Carter mused. He was sprawled out on the bed with Lee sitting cross legged next to him and his phone lying on the covers between them. "Did you get anything on Lucille Miller's catering business?"

"Yeah I looked into that too," Didi confirmed. "Prime Catering is her own business. She set it up three years ago and it's really taken off. They cater for high end clients; only the very wealthy. And get this, I've checked with three of our six victims so far and Prime Catering had catered for all three of them prior to the thefts."

Carter let out a low whistle. "That could be the link we need."

"Just because she catered for them, does not mean that she stole the paintings," Lee pointed out.

"No but it does give her the opportunity to scope out the security," Carter replied, gaze fixed on the ceiling as he turned the matter over in his mind. "You're right though. That doesn't mean it was her. We need evidence."

"I'll keep digging and see what I can find," Didi promised. "And I'll check with our remaining three victims, see if Lucille catered for them too."

"Thanks Didi, you're the best," Carter said with a grin. "We'll see what we can find out from here."

"Alright, let us know if you find anything," she said. "And be careful, you two."

"We will. Thank you Didi," Lee answered and there was a beep as Didi disconnected the call. There was a beat of silence during which Carter continued to stare at the ceiling as he considered the case so far. With wide yawn, he stretched out languidly, arching his back for a moment before relaxing back on the covers and crossing his arms behind his head.

"We need to talk to Lucille," he said, tipping his head to the side and finding Lee looking at him with a strange expression on his face.

"You alright?" Carter asked and Lee blinked, seeming to snap out of it.

"I am fine," he answered, looking away, unwilling to talk about whatever was bothering him. "I'm going to go for a run."

"M'kay, you have fun with that," Carter said, watching as Lee left the room in more of a hurry than usual. He frowned, wondering what was up with his partner now, before deciding that, whatever it was, Lee would tell him eventually.

~~~

Carter had moved downstairs to lounge on the couch by the time Lee returned from his run. He heard the front door open and close behind him and he twisted around to peer over the back of the couch. And that's when his brain thoroughly short circuited because Lee was standing there all hot and sweaty from his run, hair sticking to his forehead and a delightful flush across his cheeks.

Carter was dimly aware that he might be staring but that thought was quickly being overwhelmed by thoughts of all the things he wanted to do to Lee right now. Thoughts of pressing Lee against the wall and kissing him until he was breathless; thoughts of stripping him of his clothes and tasting the sweat on his skin; thoughts of following him into the shower and running his hands over wet skin before sliding into him, hearing his desperate moans and gasps as he writhed against him. He wanted with a sudden urgency that left him reeling with its intensity.

It took a few long moments for him to realize that Lee was saying something and that he hadn't heard a word of it. He tried to compose himself, dragging his mind away from thoughts of his partner in compromising positions. He tried to ask Lee to repeat himself and although he was still very distracted, he was pretty sure he managed to say something intelligent like "Huh?"

"I said, I saw Ryan Miller outside; Lucille's husband," Lee repeated patiently. "He said that the two of them host monthly dinner parties for their neighbors and he invited us to the next one on Friday."

"Great!" Carter replied, shaking himself out of his stupor with great difficulty. "That'll give us the chance to snoop round their house and ask her about her catering business."

"Agreed," Lee said with a nod and then "I'm going to take a shower."

Carter made a vague sound of acknowledgement and listened as Lee's footsteps disappeared up the stairs. When he was out of earshot, Carter collapsed back onto the couch with a groan, scrubbing his hands over his face. He was achingly hard but he forced himself to think unpleasant thoughts in an effort to will his erection away. He could only be grateful that the back of the couch had prevented Lee from noticing his situation. That man was going to be the death of him.

~~~

The next few days passed uneventfully. Carter took to collecting the mail at strategic times to bump into various neighbors. He didn't find out anything particularly interesting but he did discover that Mark Ellis' cat was pregnant again, Maria's mom was getting better and Cindy's boss was being unreasonable about the latest consultancy tender.

"If I have to hear Mark talk about cat birthing processes one more time, I think I'll throw up," Carter said as he wandered into the kitchen just before dinner one day. He dropped the mail on the side and leaned against the counter, watching Lee cook and trying to figure out what he was making.

"Try talking about something else then," Lee said, stirring something in a pot.

"I've _tried_ ," Carter whined. "But he just gets back onto cats again. The man's obsessed!" He moved closer to peer over Lee's shoulder at the food. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

"What are you making?" he asked, reaching out a hand in an attempt to swipe a piece of lightly fried chicken from a frying pan that had just been taken off the heat.

"It is a Chinese dish," Lee started, grabbing his wrist before he could get to the chicken. "And it is not ready yet," he added, pulling Carter's hand away from the food. Carter pouted at him, earning the beginnings of a fond smile in response.

"It will not be much longer though," Lee promised and Carter watched as he turned to get a bowl down from one of the cupboards. He waited until his back was turned before reaching out a finger to dip into the pot, wanting to taste whatever was in there. Lee must have seen the movement though, because his hand flashed out, catching Carter's before he could even get near the liquid.

"That is very hot," Lee told him seriously, guiding his hand away, and Carter was very aware of the gentle touch.

"Right, no touching that," Carter said, getting caught in Lee's dark eyes. They were suddenly very close and he was conscious of the fact that Lee hadn't released his hand yet. As soon as he had thought that though, Lee seemed to realize it too, letting go hurriedly and turning away.

"I'll uh, I'll just go and set the table," Carter said quickly, hurrying out of the room, the skin of his hand tingling with the memory of Lee's touch. He had held hands with Lee plenty of times over the last few days and while it always made a warm glow curl in his stomach, it had always been in front of people, for show. But just now, standing so close to each other, hands touching with no one else to see, it had felt a whole lot more intimate.

He stood in the lounge for a moment, taking a deep breath to try to center himself and calm his suddenly fluttering heart. He hoped Lee hadn't noticed anything strange. He really needed to get a grip if he was going to carry on keeping his feelings for Lee a secret.

~~~

It was that evening, as they sat on the couch watching TV, that the call came in, bursting Carter's little bubble of happiness.

"There's been another theft," Didi said without preamble when they answered the phone. "And this time someone was killed."

"Who?" Carter asked, a sinking feeling in his chest.

"Graham Morris, sixty three years old," Didi answered. "He lived alone. The cleaner arrived this afternoon and found him dead and one of the paintings gone."

"How did he die?" Lee asked.

"He was shot; two bullets through the chest. Time of death puts the shooting at about 3am. It looks like he must have disturbed the thief. The cleaner says she's never seen a gun on the premises so it doesn't look like it was his."

"So the thief came armed," Lee concluded.

"It looks that way," Didi agreed. "And they cleaned up after themselves. We're still processing the scene but it doesn't look like they left any trace of themselves. Again!" She sounded frustrated and Carter knew how she felt. They really didn't have much to go on and now a man was dead. He heard her take a deep breath and then she spoke again, sounding more collected.

"I'll let you know if we find anything but it doesn't look hopeful," she sighed. "I think you guys are our best hope. Keep digging at your end."

"Thanks for letting us know, Didi," Carter said. "We'll see what we can find out. There's a dinner party tomorrow so maybe we'll catch a break then."

"I hope so," she answered. "But be careful, okay? Whoever this thief is, they've already killed one person. They won't hesitate to kill you too if they think you're on to them."

"We will be careful," Lee promised her and they heard her sigh again.

"Make sure you are. Talk to you soon guys," she said before ending the call.

They sat in silence, considering the news.

"We need to find this thief fast," Carter said after a few moments. "Before they can hurt anyone else."

"The dinner party tomorrow will be a good way to investigate Lucille," Lee said. "If it is her, we may be able to find some evidence against her."

~~~

"James, Jonathan! Come in. I'm so glad you could make it," Ryan Miller greeted warmly when they arrived at the dinner party that Friday.

"Oh we couldn't miss it," Carter said. "We've heard wonderful things about your wife's cooking!"

"Well it's probably all true. She's in the kitchen right now cooking up a storm so I'm sure you're in for a treat. I, on the other hand, have been banished from the kitchen for the time being!"

"Not much of a chef yourself then?" Carter asked.

"I'm not terrible but Lucille can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to cooking," Ryan said with a grimace that bordered on distaste.

"I guess that comes with being a professional chef," Lee said, taking Carter's hand and tangling their fingers together. Carter was momentarily reminded of the moment in the kitchen the previous day, the darkness of Lee's eyes and the warmth of his hand.

"It definitely seems to," Ryan replied, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"So we haven't seen the two of you around much the past few days," Carter said, absentmindedly adjusting his grip on Lee's hand and running a thumb along one of his fingers.

"Well work's been keeping us both busy," Ryan answered and Carter noticed that he did look tired.

"You're in insurance right?" he asked.

"Yes, the firm I work for is only small so we're stretched a bit thin sometimes," Ryan explained. "I've had to work some long hours lately but it'll be worth it in the end."

"And I take it your wife's business has kept her busy too," Lee stated, steering the conversation back towards Lucille.

"Yes, well Lucille's business usually keeps her far too busy to dally with us mere mortals," Ryan said, tone laced with bitterness that surprised Carter and made him start to wonder if everything was alright between Ryan and Lucille. "Lately she's been working even more hours so between that and my own work, I've barely seen her recently." Carter really wasn't sure what to say to that but thankfully he was saved by Lucille emerging from the kitchen and declaring that dinner was about to be served.

~~~

"This is delicious," Carter said a while later as they all sat eating around the large dining table. "Everyone told us about your cooking but, man, I think they undersold it!"

"Thank you," Lucille smiled, looking pleased. "Cooking is what I love doing."

"It must be wonderful to have a job doing what you love," Lee said.

"Oh it is," Lucille answered, her eyes brightening. "I get to spend most of my time cooking or planning what we are going to cook for events and sourcing ingredients. It really is my dream job."

"Ryan was saying you've been very busy with it," Carter added, hoping they could get her to talk about it in more detail.

"I have," she agreed. "We've had so many events to cater recently and I have the business side of things to take care of as well. I'm thinking of hiring a few new people to help out. The business is still growing after all and we're starting to need a few extra hands."

"You must get to cater at some really nice places," Lee suggested.

"Oh we do. Just a couple of months ago we catered a birthday party at the Smythes'. It was such a nice house!" she gushed and Carter tried to figure out how to ask if she knew about the theft of their painting that had happened only days later.

"Isn't that where one of the painting thefts happened recently?" Carla asked from further down the table and Carter couldn't believe their luck.

"I heard about that," Lucille replied. "It must have been after we were there because Mr Smythe was making a big deal of showing it off to everyone."

"You saw it then?" Lee questioned.

"Yes, I can't say I thought much of it though. It was just a lot of blurry shapes," she shrugged, looking unimpressed.

"Blurry shapes!" Carla exclaimed. "I'll have you know-" And that was the end of that conversation as Carla swiftly took over with her analysis of the artistic techniques used in that particular painting and all the different meanings hidden within it. There were a few rolled eyes around the table but it was all good natured. Carter saw Carla's husband watching her fondly and wondered if he looked that dopey when he was watching Lee. Probably, he decided reluctantly. He just had a hard time keeping the smile off of his face when Lee was around.

~~~

It was after dinner that they finally found an opportunity to snoop around the rest of the house. Their neighbors were split between the patio and the kitchen, sampling the home made wine that Mr and Mrs Matherson had brought with them. Carter had tried some himself and it packed quite the kick, filling his insides with a pleasant warmth.

Deciding that this was the best chance they would get, he steered Lee towards the stairs and they crept up them together. The door nearest the top revealed a bathroom and after a quick search of the cabinets, they moved on, finding the master bedroom further along.

Carter crept inside, closing the door quietly behind them, and turned to survey the room. It was very neat; covers arranged tidily on the bed and books standing in ordered rows on the shelves. Carter moved to rummage through one of the bedside cabinets, finding various odds and ends. An assortment of jewelry was arranged on top of the cabinet, earrings filling a small shell shaped dish.

Finding nothing of interest, he turned to search the wardrobe.

" Hey, you think they're having marital problems?" he asked, opening one of the doors and peering inside.

"Ryan didn't seem very happy about Lucille working late," Lee said thoughtfully. "It doesn't sound like they spend much time together."

"And he didn't sound very enamored with her when he was saying about her being a perfectionist," Carter added. "There's lots of her clothes in here and not many of his. It looks like she's taken over most of the room actually. I bet Ryan's not happy about that." He looked over at Lee, meeting his eyes for a moment before his partner turned away.

"You have taken over most of our room and I don't mind," Lee shrugged, running a hand under the edge of the mattress, and Carter really, _really_ liked his casual use of the word 'our' in that sentence.

"Yeah well, we can't all be as calm and collected as you," Carter replied, trying to keep the dopey smile off of his face. "Anyway, you have weirdly few possessions. I'm buying you tonnes of useless junk for Christmas."

"Why would I want that?" Lee asked, leveling him with an unimpressed look.

"Everyone needs useless junk, Lee!" Carter told him. "Anyway, they'll be gifts so you have to pretend to like them." He shot Lee his biggest grin and watched happily as he rolled his eyes. Lee looked like he was about to say something in response but then he stopped, turning his head back to the mattress. He pulled his hand out from underneath, bringing with it a thin notebook.

"Ooh what's that?" Carter asked, crowding in close to read it too as Lee flipped it open. The pages were filled with numbers and scribbled sentences, all in messy, angular handwriting. It took a while for Carter to make sense of what he was seeing but then he made a quiet sound of triumph.

"This is it!" he exclaimed, grabbing Lee's arm in his excitement. "That's the details of the security at the Blakes'."

"And these are details of the Smythes' house," Lee said, turning a few pages.

"Lucille must have scoped out the security and then written it down so she wouldn't forget anything," Carter suggested. "We need copies of this to send to Didi." It seemed Lee was already ahead of him though, pulling out his cell phone and taking pictures of each of the pages.

He had just finished photographing the last page when he froze suddenly.

"Someone's coming," he hissed and Carter became aware of footsteps on the stairs.

"Maybe they're going to the bathroom," he offered, watching as Lee pushed the notebook back under the mattress. But even as he said it, the footsteps went straight past the bathroom, heading further along towards the bedroom that they were stood in.

"Or not," Carter added, helplessly. They stood unmoving for a moment, watching the door and waiting for it to open. The footsteps had almost reached them and Carter's mind raced, searching for any way out of this.

"What do we-" Lee started to ask but Carter cut him off before he could finish, suddenly struck by an idea that he wouldn't have the courage to go through with if he hesitated.

"Just go with this," he pleaded, stepping in close. He raised a hand to curl against Lee's neck, pulling him in and that was all the warning he gave him before pressing their lips together. Lee made a muffled sound of surprise, going motionless against him for a moment but then he had the good sense to start kissing back.

Carter slid a hand into Lee's hair, messing it up just as he'd always wanted to and deepening the kiss when Lee's mouth opened on a gasp. He had wanted to kiss him for so long and even though he had never considered this scenario, he couldn't help the thrill of joy he felt. Lee's hands came to rest on Carter's hips, fingertips grazing his skin under the hem of his t shirt and Carter pressed closer, greedy for more.

Behind him, the door opened and there was a surprised intake of breath.

"Oh!" Lucille yelped and Carter tore himself away from Lee, trying his best to act surprised. They had only been kissing for seconds but he felt breathless and his heart was racing from the feel of Lee's mouth against his.

"Oh, uh sorry," Carter said in a rush, trying to appear apologetic. "We were just um..." He broke off, not sure how to finish that sentence because she had just walked in on them making out in her room. His eyes darted across to Lee and got caught there because he looked _dazed_. And really Carter couldn't blame him because he had just had his partner kiss him with very little warning.

"We were..." Lee tried to continue for him but stopped, sounding flustered.

"Oh I can see," Lucille said with a smirk, looking far too amused.

"We don't usually-" Carter tried again. "I mean we just... Sorry, I think I've had a bit too much of Mr and Mrs Matherson's wine!" He leaned into Lee, hoping he appeared tipsy enough to convince Lucille.

"That's pretty powerful stuff!" she laughed before turning her gaze to Lee. "What's your excuse? I'd have thought you'd be far too serious and responsible for all this." She sounded teasing and Carter was grateful that they seemed to be getting away with it.

"James can be very persuasive," Lee said and it sounded almost like a confession. There was a blush rising on his cheeks and Carter wanted to show him just how persuasive he could really be.

He licked his lips, tasting the faint memory of Lee's mouth and all he wanted to do was kiss him again. "Anyway, we should uh-"

"Head back downstairs," Lee finished for him, as Carter grabbed his arm and pulled him past Lucille. Her faint laughter drifted after them as they hurried towards the stairs.

In moments they were back downstairs but it was still long enough for Carter to start worrying that he might have messed up. He wanted desperately to apologize but he couldn't in front of the other guests. Instead, he kept quiet as they joined a group of their neighbors in the kitchen, slipping into the conversation as if they had never been gone.

There was a brief moment of awkwardness when Carter's fingers brushed against Lee's as they stood close together and their eyes snapped up to look at each other. All of Carter's nerves came rushing back and maybe it showed in his face or maybe Lee wanted reassurance too because he tangled their fingers together, squeezing Carter's hand gently. Carter relaxed, feeling something inside him loosen in relief as he squeezed back.

~~~

It was getting late by the time they said their goodbyes that evening and more than a few people were showing the effects of the Mathersons' homemade wine.

"Thank you for a lovely meal," Lee said to Lucille as they prepared to leave.

"Not a problem," she said with a smile. "Hey, if you're interested, my company is doing a food fair next Saturday. There'll be plenty of free food."

"Free food!" Carter exclaimed. "Count us in!"

"Alright," Lucille laughed. "Here let me give you the address." She grabbed a scrap of paper from a nearby side table and scribbled down an address in swirling, fluid writing.

"It's open all day so just drop in whenever. There'll be plenty of wine too although maybe you should keep James away from that," she said smile turning knowing and Carter felt his cheeks heat up at her insinuation. He took the address and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans, feeling suddenly flustered.

"Thanks," he said quickly. "We'll be sure to stop by."

It was still warm outside as they walked back across the crescent to their house. Lee was quiet, and although that was nothing new, it was making Carter antsy. As he shut the front door behind them, Carter became intensely aware that this was the first time they'd been alone since he'd kissed Lee. He knew it was just a part of their cover but he couldn't help feeling guilty about it. What would Lee think if he knew how much Carter had enjoyed kissing him?

He watched in nervous silence as Lee tapped away at his phone, sending Didi the photos they'd taken of the notebook. When he finally finished and looked up, Carter couldn't contain himself any longer.

"I'm sorry!" he burst out. Lee frowned at him in confusion and Carter rushed to clarify.

"For kissing you, I mean. I shouldn't have just done that without asking and I know we didn't have much time but I still should've-"

"Carter," Lee cut him off. "It's okay. You saved our cover. It was quick thinking." Carter didn't tell him that it couldn't really be classed as quick thinking when the idea of kissing him was never far from his thoughts.

"Are you sure?" he asked, uncertainly. "Because I don't want things to be weird between us."

"I am sure," Lee answered seriously, assuaging his fears. "We would have been caught otherwise. And we did get the evidence we were looking for." It was the answer Carter had hoped for and he felt a surge of relief that Lee wasn't upset at him.

"We did," he said, grin spreading across his face. "Captain Cole is so gonna commend us for this!"

~~~

It was a few hours later, deep in the middle of the night, that Carter woke briefly, mind still half asleep and sluggish. He was warm and comfortable, still somewhere in that lazy gap between sleep and wakefulness. He had no idea who had made the first move but he found himself curled together with Lee, their legs tangled and arms wrapped around each other.

Their faces were close, noses just brushing and breaths mixing in the small space between them. Had he been more alert, Carter might have worried about how Lee would feel if he woke like this, but hazy with sleep as he was, those concerns seemed so very far away.

Instead, he pressed just the tiniest bit closer, arm curling higher up Lee's back and palm coming to rest between his shoulder blades. Lee made a soft sound in his sleep that could have been a sigh and Carter's mouth twitched into a contented smile.

The soft rhythm of Lee's breaths lulled him back towards sleep, the steady movement of his chest a calming motion against him. It was warm and peaceful, wrapped up in each other under the covers and he would have happily spent an eternity in that moment.

Within minutes, Carter was drifting back to sleep, his mind slipping sluggishly away from reality, so he must have dreamed the quiet 'I love you' that he felt whispered against his skin.

He dreamed of Lee that night; of soft kisses and quiet confessions of love; of warm arms around him and a comfortable feeling of belonging.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me a bit of trouble. I just couldn't get it how I wanted. But hopefully it's turned out alright. 
> 
> There's only one chapter left after this one so we're getting to the end of it!
> 
> Let me know what you think!

Carter was woken the next morning by Lee shaking him awake with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Carter, wake up," he said softly and Carter groaned, pulling the covers over his head and attempting to go back to sleep.

"Carter," Lee said, a tinge of amusement flowing into his voice. "You can go back to sleep in a minute." Carter peered blearily out from under the covers, still foggy with sleep, and found Lee crouching next to the bed so that their heads were almost level. For a moment he was taken back to the kiss from the night before but he pulled himself out of it with effort. He had to get a grip.

Lee smiled when he saw that Carter's eyes were open and that really didn't help matters.

"I'm going out," he told Carter. "Ryan came over. He wants some help repairing his shed."

"Sounds great," Carter yawned. "You have fun with that." He was already dozing off again when Lee prodded him in the shoulder.

" _What?_ " he whined, shooting a petulant look at Lee, who seemed completely unaffected by it.

"I'll see if I can find out if he knows anything about the notebook we found," Lee said.

"You think he might know about Lucille stealing the paintings?" Carter asked sleepily.

"Not really. They do not seem happy together. I don't think she would share it with him," Lee answered thoughtfully. "But it might be useful to find out what he does know about her movements and if he has seen her with the notebook."

"M'kay," Carter sighed, eyes drooping heavily.

"Also, Didi called," Lee added. "She's going through the photos we sent her but we need something to tie Lucille to the crimes themselves or the sellers she's been using."

"Yeah we need enough evidence to get a conviction. And we don't want to spook Lucille by taking her in for questioning too early," Carter agreed, letting his eyes slip closed and hoping he would be allowed to sleep again soon. "We stand a better chance of finding things out here." Lee nodded, watching Carter for a moment and there was a long beat of silence.

"Well if you're done watching me sleep..." Carter said teasingly, opening one eye to look at him just in time to catch the blush that crept up Lee's cheeks. For a moment Carter dared to hope... But he discarded that thought before it could take hold. He was just projecting his own feelings again. There was no way Lee was into him like that.

"You are not asleep," Lee corrected him quickly.

"I would be if someone would let me," Carter grumbled, pulling the covers more tightly around himself. He heard the quiet sounds of Lee standing and shuffling around before heading for the doorway.

"I will be back later," he said softly and Carter hummed an agreement.

"Be careful," he called out before yawning widely.

"I am always careful," Lee replied from the doorway. "It is you that takes too many risks."

"That's why I have you to save me," Carter murmured into his pillow, vaguely aware that he probably wouldn't normally say that out loud. But Lee just gave a quiet laugh and when he spoke again there was definite fondness in his tone.

"Go back to sleep, Carter."

~~~

When Carter woke again a couple of hours had passed. The house seemed empty with the knowledge that Lee wasn't in it. They had barely been out of each other's company since they started this undercover operation so having the time to himself seemed a bit strange.

He rolled out of bed with a wide yawn, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and padded into the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water felt wonderful and if he spent a bit longer than usual in there remembering last night's kiss; the feeling of Lee's mouth on his and the warm press of his body, then that was his own business. He knew it had just been part of the act but he couldn't get the thought of it out of his head and now that he knew what it was like to actually kiss Lee, he desperately wanted to do it again.

By the time he returned to the bedroom, toweling himself dry, he felt much more awake. He grabbed his discarded jeans from yesterday off of the floor. Lee had stopped giving him annoyed looks for that after just a few days, seeming to accept that Carter was never going to be as tidy as him.

He pulled the jeans on, shoving his cell phone into his pocket and frowning when he felt something else in there. He dipped a hand inside and pulled out a scrap of paper. He vaguely remembered Lucille writing the address of her upcoming food fair down for them but he had been too embarrassed by her insinuations about how likely he was to jump Lee to pay much attention to it.

Now he looked down at the note, seeing it properly for the first time and sudden icy dread filled his veins, horrified realization hitting him as he stared at the neat, swirling writing. Neat, swirling writing that didn't look anything like the untidy scribbles they had seen in that notebook, which meant the notebook didn't belong to Lucille. And that meant that it must belong to the only other person living in that house, which was Ryan, which meant...

"Oh god, Lee," Carter panicked, rushing to pull a t shirt on and stumbling out of the room with it still half over his head. Because Lee was with Ryan now, intending to ask him about that notebook, thinking that it belonged to Lucille when actually the thief was right there with him.

He had made it to the front door before he realized he wasn't wearing any shoes and had to hurry back to shove his bare feet into the sneakers he'd left at the foot of the stairs. He almost ran out the door, letting it swing shut behind him and hurrying further along the crescent to Lucille and Ryan's house.

He knocked on the door, perhaps a little too hard in his anxiety. His heart was racing as he waited, bouncing on the spot with his need to just do something. He tried to calm himself, reasoning that Lee could be fine; that he might not have even mentioned the notebook yet. He knew Lee could take care of himself but Lee didn't know about Ryan. He wouldn't be expecting any trouble and Ryan had already killed one person. He might not feel any remorse about killing a second.

The door swung open and Lucille stood before him, offering him a welcoming smile.

"James! What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Is L- I mean Jonathan here?" Carter gasped breathlessly, concern still rushing through him.

"No, you just missed him," Lucille answered, seeming not to notice his distress. "He and Ryan were heading over to the rental house but I didn't get a chance to ask what they were doing."

"The rental house?" Carter repeated in confusion.

"Yes, my husband also owns the house on the corner, over there," she pointed across the street and Carter turned to look. He remembered Didi mentioning that that house was for rent but that it was currently unoccupied. But he was certain they didn't have either of the Millers as the owner. He would have remembered if that had been in the files. It would have been worth looking into.

"He rents it out but there hasn't been anyone else in it for a while now," Lucille carried on. "Ryan said he was having trouble finding a tenant and I don't really have much to do with it. I'm far too busy."

"It doesn't belong to the both of you?" Carter questioned, itching to run over there but he needed to know this.

"It was better for tax purposes if it was in Ryan's name," Lucille shrugged. "Seeing as I already have the catering business income."

"How did they both seem when they left?" Carter asked, not caring how strange it might sound.

"Well, Ryan was acting a little strangely," she said thoughtfully. "Why? What's going on?"

"Right, and how long ago did they go over there?" Carter ignored her questions, his worry ratcheting up a notch at the comment on Ryan's behavior.

"Just a few minutes ago," Lucille said, a small frown appearing on her face. "Are you alright?"

"I have to go," Carter blurted out, already turning towards the rental house. "Family emergency, y'know?"

"I hope everything's okay!" she called after him, looking confused, but he was already running across the crescent, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he did. He dialed one of the numbers in his contacts and, thankfully, Didi picked up after the first ring.

"Carter, what-" she started to say but Carter cut her off.

"Listen, Didi, I don't have much time," he said in a rush. "It's Ryan. He's the thief. Turns out he owns that rental house on the corner and he's got Lee there now. I think he's in trouble."

"What? Ryan doesn't own the rental house," Didi answered, sounding bemused.

"Tell that to his wife! She just told me herself," he said, lowering his voice as he approached the house. He crept up the drive, keeping low to avoid being seen from the windows and moved quickly along the side of the house.

"He must have used a fake name," Didi said as Carter peered into one of the windows. There was no one there so he moved on to the next, heart catching in his throat at what he saw inside.

Ryan was stood in the center of the lounge, aiming a gun at Lee who was pressed back against the far wall, hands raised placatingly as he said something. Whatever it was didn't seem to help because Ryan just looked angry, waving the gun around as he said something back. Carter stood frozen for a moment, filled with horror at the sight. There was no way Lee could do anything to fight back. If he even tried to, Ryan would shoot him before he made it half way across the room.

"Carter? Are you still there?" Didi asked with worry in her tone, shaking Carter out of his motionless state.

"Ryan's got a gun," Carter said in answer as he slipped around the back of the house, hoping he'd be able to find a way in without alerting Ryan to his presence. "I need you to send backup now."

"I'm on it," Didi said, voice filling with calm professionalism. Carter really admired that about her, and he listened as she shouted something to someone else on her end.

"Just wait for backup," she said but Carter was already trying the back door and finding it unlocked.

"Sorry, I can't do that, Didi," he apologized.

"You don't even have a weapon!" she exclaimed and Carter knew she was right but he couldn't just leave Lee.

"I know but _Lee's_ in there," he said, voice choking up and fully aware that everything he felt was right there in those few words for Didi to hear. "I can't wait. He might not have that long." He heard Didi sigh and he could almost see the concerned expression on her face.

"I'm not going to argue with you, Carter," she said and Carter loved her for it. "Just be careful okay?"

Carter's stomach churned at the memory of saying those same words to Lee this morning, telling him to be careful and getting amusement in response, being told that he was the reckless one, not Lee. Well Lee was right about that. Carter was reckless. He was about to charge into a gunfight without a gun. He only prayed he wouldn't get them both killed.

"I'll try," he promised Didi before hanging up. He took a breath and then eased the back door open quietly before sneaking inside. He crept down the hallway towards the room that Lee and Ryan were in.

"I didn't want to have to do this," Ryan was telling Lee as Carter reached the open doorway. "You should've just kept your nose out of things that don't concern you." He sounded upset and desperate. And Carter knew from experience that desperation often made for the most dangerous kind of person.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee asked in an attempt to keep him talking. "Why steal those paintings? You have a good life here."

"Why? For the money of course!" Ryan said as if he couldn't believe he even needed to ask. "Once I've sold them I'll be rich. I'll disappear, change my name and start a brand new life."

"What about Lucille?"

"Things haven't been right between us for a while," Ryan admitted, shoulder slumping slightly. "It's better for both of us if I just leave."

Carter crept closer as Ryan was speaking, feet making no sound on the carpeted floor. Lee's eyes flicked over to him for a moment but returned to Ryan just as fast. Carter had almost reached him when a floorboard creaked under his foot. Ryan whirled around to face him, shock evident on his face, and Carter found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"You!" Ryan gasped in recognition. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow some sugar?" Carter said before he could stop himself because he never could control his mouth. Ryan looked taken aback, but he quickly recovered, holding the gun in a shaky hand as he leveled it at Carter.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone. You have to believe that," Ryan said desperately. "But I have no choice. I've worked so hard for this. I can't lose it all now." He raised the gun higher so that it pointed straight between Carter's eyes.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you live," Ryan said, voice tight as his finger twitched on the trigger and Carter knew this was it for him. He looked over at Lee, wanting to see him one last time, and finding wide eyes looking back at him.

"No!" Lee shouted and Ryan twitched, head turning to look at Lee. That was all Carter needed. He lunged forwards, ducking under the gun and grabbing at Ryan's arm to keep him from aiming it. They struggled and Carter drove a knee up into Ryan's groin, getting a pained grunt in response. But Ryan wouldn't release his grip on the gun. Instead he charged forward and they both collided hard with the wall. Carter gasped as the breath was knocked out of him, then gasped again as Ryan managed to get a good hit in, fist colliding with his ribs.

He kicked Ryan as hard as he could and then they were falling, Ryan's weight knocking Carter down with him. They hit the ground and the gun went off, shockingly loud, just a moment after Ryan's head hit the coffee table with a sickening crack.

Carter lay there stunned, pinned under Ryan's weight and ears ringing from the sound of the gunshot. Ryan was unmoving on top of him and he pushed at him ineffectually with shaking hands. Then Lee was there, shoving Ryan off of him and looking down at him with so much worry that Carter wanted to hug him.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked, voice urgent.

"I'm fine," Carter said shakily, sitting up and looking across at Ryan. He pressed a couple of fingers to his neck and found a steady pulse.

"He's unconscious," he said, noting the trickle of blood on his forehead where it had hit the table. Miraculously, the gunshot seemed to have missed both of them and Carter grabbed the gun from where it lay nearby before sliding it across the floor away from them.

"I think he'll be fine though. Backup's on its way," he said but Lee didn't seem to be listening. His expression was panicked as he reached out to clutch at Carter. His hands were shaking as he slid them across his body, checking for injury. Under any other circumstances, Carter would have welcomed the touch but Lee seemed so distressed that he couldn't enjoy the contact.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay," Carter said softly in reassurance. When that didn't seem to have any effect, he clasped his hands over Lee's to stop their desperate movements. They trembled in his grasp so he gripped them tighter, rubbing soothing circles with his thumbs in an attempt to calm him down. He had never seen Lee panic like this before so he felt completely lost in the face of it. He could only imagine what Lee had thought when the gun had gone off and he knew he would probably react the same way if he thought Lee had been hurt.

"I'm okay," Carter repeated, not knowing what else to say. He uncurled a hand from Lee's and used it to tip his chin up, forcing him to meet his eyes. Something changed in Lee's expression then, eyes going dark and intense. It froze Carter to the spot, one hand still touching Lee's chin, and then before he had time to think, Lee leaned in and kissed him hard. It was just a desperate press of lips and it only lasted a moment, long enough to set Carter's heart pounding but not long enough for him to respond. Then Lee pulled back, eyes wide as he realized what he'd done.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" he stammered.

"There's no one here to see us," Carter said, frowning in confusion.

"I know. I-" Lee stopped himself, tearing his hands away from Carter's and looking down at them as he refused to meet Carter's gaze.

"That wasn't part of the cover?" Carter asked, faint hope starting to blossom in his chest. Lee shook his head looking dejected.

"I'm sorry," he said miserably. "Just pretend I didn't-" But Carter cut him off by grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him into another kiss. Lee made a broken sound, low in his throat and then his mouth opened under Carter's as he kissed back heatedly. The kiss turned fast and desperate as Lee pushed closer, clutching at him as if scared that he would disappear if he let go and Carter wrapped his arms around him and held him tight in response.

It was nothing like the brief kiss they had shared the previous night as part of their cover. That had been over far too soon and barely more than a quick press of mouths. This was so much more, full of heat and urgency and the desperate emotion that they had both been hiding for far too long. Carter was vaguely aware that Ryan was still lying unconscious next to them and that backup would be arriving soon but it seemed like such a far off concern when Lee was kissing him like that; kissing him like he needed to make sure that Carter was alive; kissing him like he wanted to make up for all the lost time; kissing him like he needed it more than life itself.

Lee's hands moved up to grip at Carter's shoulders and he tilted his head to change the angle of the kiss. Carter's heart was pounding in his chest, veins thrumming with an overwhelming joy that he could actually have this after wanting it for so long. He broke the kiss to gasp for air, mouth turning up into a wide grin that he couldn't control.

"Don't be sorry," he managed to gasp out and Lee's answering smile was all he needed. He was momentarily dazed by the happiness in his expression, a look that he hadn't seen on Lee's face before. He reached a hand up to cup his cheek, tracing his thumb across that smile and Lee's expression went soft with affection, head turning into the touch.

Carter watched him in awe for a moment, stunned that this was actually happening. Then he couldn't hold back any longer and he pulled Lee into another kiss, sighing in contentment as their lips met again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are on the final chapter of this fic!
> 
> I'd like to say thank you to everybody who's read this so far and to those who left kudos. It means a lot that people are actually reading it! And thank you to the people who have left such lovely comments. It really makes my day to get them.
> 
> Anyway, here's the last chapter! I hope you like it.

The sound of sirens was what made them finally pull apart, breathing heavily. Carter pressed his forehead against Lee's, savoring the closeness for a moment, before stealing one last brief kiss and pulling back properly.

"We should..." he started, gesturing outside and unable to keep the smile off of his face.

"Yes, of course," Lee said, standing up and holding out a hand to Carter. Carter took it and let Lee help him up, still feeling giddy with joy. They stood holding hands for a moment, reluctant to let go of each other and Carter ran his thumb across Lee's fingers, receiving a small, affectionate smile in response. They were standing very close and the happy look on Lee's face made Carter want nothing more than to sway forward and kiss him again but the screech of tires on tarmac as their backup arrived had them dropping each other's hands and stepping apart.

"That'll be the backup Didi sent. I'll just go and let them in. You watch sleeping beauty here," Carter said, waving a hand at Ryan, who was still unconscious on the floor. He headed outside, reluctantly leaving Lee behind, and was soon explaining the situation to the responding police officers. He sent two of them inside to take custody of Ryan and gave a few more the task of cordoning off the house. He hadn't had a chance to look around yet but it seemed likely that this was where the paintings were being stored so they would need to search the entire house.

A few minutes later, two police officers led a groggy looking Ryan out of the house in handcuffs. Lee followed just behind them and Carter had to fight down the dopey smile that threatened to spread across his face at the sight of him. Lee caught him watching and ducked his head to hide a smile of his own which, Carter thought, was one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen him do.

"We should call Didi and let her know that we are okay," Lee said when he reached Carter's side.

"Yeah she's probably worried," Carter agreed, digging out his phone. He leaned back against one of the police cars as he dialed the number and Lee joined him, standing close enough for their shoulders to brush. Carter quickly looked around to check that no one was looking and then let the fingers of his free hand slide over Lee's where it rested between them. Lee's eyes flicked over to meet his and held his gaze for a long moment, his mouth opening as if he were about to say something but then Didi answered the call and the moment was shattered.

"Carter!" Didi exclaimed and Carter pulled his hand away from Lee's, crossing his arm over his chest so that he wouldn't be tempted to touch him more when other people could see. "Are you okay? How's Lee?"

"We're both fine, Didi," Carter replied. "And Ryan's being taken away as we speak."

"Oh thank God! The next time you go charging in to face a gunman unarmed, you call me straight away afterwards have you got that?" Didi demanded but she sounded more relieved than angry.

"Sorry, Didi," Carter apologized, feeling bad that he hadn't thought to call her straight away. But then he had been otherwise occupied.

"So you should be. I was worried sick!"

"We are very sorry, Didi," Lee said, sounding apologetic.

"That's alright, Lee," Didi said, voice softening and turning forgiving. Lee always seemed to have that effect on people and Carter might have disliked it if he didn't love him so much.

"Anyway, Captain Cole's here with me. She wants the two of you back at the station," Didi continued. "We need to hear everything you know before we start questioning Ryan Miller and it's probably best if you don't stick around in the crescent right now. Your neighbors are bound to find out about this situation soon enough and it's better if you're not there for that."

"Okay, we're on our way," Carter acknowledged. "We'll be back soon."

~~~

When they made it back to the station, they were immediately whisked into a debriefing. They spent the next few hours going over the day's events and recounting every detail that they could remember. Carter took great pride in getting to tell people how he'd taken down the gun wielding perpetrator, making sure to emphasize that part of the story with excited enthusiasm as he related his daring actions.

He left out the part about making out with Lee next to their unconscious perp though. They definitely didn't need to know about that, even if it had made Carter far happier than heroically taking down a gunman ever could.

When they were finally done it was late afternoon and they went in search of Didi, finding her working at her desk, files spread across almost every inch of it and a dozen or so windows open on her computer. She looked up as they approached, a triumphant expression on her face.

"I know that look," Carter said with a grin. "You've got news."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I have," Didi said in that tone that told Carter he had better be impressed by this or he would be in trouble.

"I've been trying to trace the rental house back to Ryan," she started, bringing up a load of records on the screen of her computer. "The owner is a Mr Malcolm Thorne. Now on the surface everything looked fine. We looked into him when we first started investigating the residents of the street but there was nothing unusual and as he wasn't resident there, we turned our focus elsewhere."

"But then Lucille told you that the house belonged to Ryan so we took another look," she continued. "Turns out Malcolm Thorne didn't exist until two years ago. There's no records of him before that time. So I checked out his bank account and there was a large amount paid in just after it was opened. It took a lot of digging but eventually I traced the money back to one Ryan Miller," she said looking across at Carter, who dutifully plastered an impressed look across his face and gave a low whistle.

"Wow, Didi. That is some really great detective work," he said and she gave him a pleased smile.

"Thank you, Carter," she said graciously. "You might also like to know that after a brief search of the rental house, the remaining paintings were found in one of the upstairs bedrooms."

"That is very good news," Lee said. "Has Ryan been questioned yet?"

"Donovan's in with him at the moment," Didi told them, standing up from her chair. "I'm going to head over now to watch. I'll let you know how it goes but in the meantime, make sure you drop off the phones you've been using and the keys to the house and then Captain Cole wants to see you when you have a minute. I think you might actually have impressed her."

"Yes! You hear that, Lee? Captain Cole's impressed with us!" Carter said, bouncing on the balls of his feet with a pleased grin. Didi rolled her eyes at him but then her expression softened.

"I'm glad you're both okay," she said giving them each a sincere smile before turning and walking away.

~~~

Carter felt strangely sad handing over the keys to the house they had been living in. He had enjoyed living with Lee and it felt odd giving that up and going back to his own place. They had fallen into such an easy rhythm almost as soon as they had moved in and Carter didn't want it to be over. Of course there was something good that had come of it all.

He glanced over at Lee, watching as he signed some forms, his brow creasing in that adorable way that it did when he was concentrating. Damn, Carter wanted to kiss him again. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about him all day. Every time he saw him, he just wanted to lean in and press their mouths together. Every time Lee stood close to him, he had to stop himself from reaching out to touch. It was driving him crazy.

When they were done signing over the keys and phones, they wandered back through the building on their way to Captain Cole's office. Lee's hand was brushing against Carter's every few steps and his skin tingled at every warm touch. He snuck a glance over at Lee and found him looking back, a soft expression on his face. Their eyes caught for a moment and Carter was struck suddenly by how much he loved this man.

He looked around the corridor, checking for people, but there was nobody in sight. So there was no one to see when he grabbed Lee's hand and pulled him into an empty meeting room, closing the door behind them.

"I've been wanting to get you alone all day," he admitted before sliding his arms around Lee's shoulders and pulling him into a kiss. Lee sighed into it, relaxing against him, and his hands came to rest on Carter's waist, holding him close as their mouths moved against each other. It was slow and gentle and Carter couldn't get enough of the feel of Lee's lips on his.

"We have to report to Captain Cole," Lee said when they eventually pulled apart but he didn't seem particularly eager to leave and his hands stayed where they were on Carter's waist.

"Uh huh," Carter murmured, eyes fixed on Lee's mouth, before kissing him again. And it was a testament to the day they'd had that Lee didn't even put up a token protest, instead kissing him back and sliding a hand up Carter's back. He was so warm, pressed against Carter like that, and Carter would have happily stayed there for ever but he knew they couldn't. He pulled away reluctantly, watching as Lee's eyes fluttered open.

"You're right, we really should report to the Captain," Carter said grudgingly, not wanting to leave the warmth of Lee's arms.

"We should also tell her about our relationship," Lee added and Carter sighed.

"Seriously Lee? Can't we even have a few days peace before we have to tell the whole precinct?" he complained, even as he tried to push down the warm glow of happiness that erupted in his chest at Lee's use of the word 'relationship'. Maybe it was stupid but it felt so official having it said out loud and Carter could barely contain his joy that Lee actually wanted him too.

"Regulation states-" Lee started to say but Carter cut him off with a kiss and the rest was muffled. Carter was really going to enjoy being able to do that.

"I know what regulation says, Lee," he said when he pulled back, grinning at Lee's surprised expression. "But here's my thought. Yes we're supposed to declare our relationship but nobody could blame us if it slipped our minds to say anything when there's so much else going on. I mean, we did just apprehend a high class art thief who tried to kill us and the Captain is totally gonna commend us when we walk in there. So it couldn't really be considered unreasonable if we just forgot to mention it for a few days, could it?"

Lee watched him consideringly for a few moments and Carter could practically see him turning over the options in his head.

"You are a terrible influence," Lee said finally but there was fondness in his tone and Carter grinned in triumph.

"Yes! You're the best, Lee," he said enthusiastically and a slow smile spread across Lee's face in response. Carter kissed him again, because he could and because he wanted to feel that smile against his lips.

"I promise we'll tell them next week," he said when he pulled away again, relaxing in the circle of Lee's arms. "I just want you to myself for a few days before they all start poking their noses in. Okay?"

"Okay," Lee agreed, a soft look in his eyes, and Carter couldn't resist pressing one last quick kiss to his lips before stepping back.

"Great! Now let's go listen to Captain Cole tell us how amazing we are!"

~~~

When they walked into Captain Cole's office, she looked up and gave them both a smile, which was so unusual for Carter that it felt decidedly odd. He was far more used to being the subject of her displeasure than her approval.

"Welcome back, Detectives," she said, gesturing for them to take a seat. "I'd like to commend you on catching Ryan Miller. It was some very fine work."

"Thank you, Captain. What can I say? We're just brilliant at our jobs," Carter said smugly, grinning at her.

"I'd also like to congratulate you, Detective Lee, for managing to survive living with Carter for so long," she said drily, giving Lee a sympathetic look.

"Hey! I am a pleasure to live with!" Carter exclaimed, outraged and Captain Cole raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"He is very untidy," Lee confided as if Carter weren't even there. "And he complains for a very long time if he is woken before noon."

"You know, somehow that doesn't surprise me," Captain Cole answered with an amused expression and Carter scowled.

"But I could not have done it without him," Lee carried on and the scowl faded from Carter's face, his eyes shooting across to meet Lee's. "It was Carter who figured out that Ryan was the thief. He saved my life." His mouth twitched into a small smile and Carter couldn't help the full blown grin that spread across his face in answer.

Captain Cole looked between them curiously and Carter tried to contain his grin, hoping that she wasn't figuring them out so soon.

"Well, good work, both of you," she said. "We were under a lot of pressure to close this case and you pulled through. Well done."

~~~

"Hey guys. How was Captain Cole?" Didi asked when they emerged. She was back at her desk, tapping away at a report on her computer but she stopped as they approached.

"She thinks we're amazing detectives," Carter answered, cheerfully and saw Lee roll his eyes.

"She was very pleased with our work on the case," Lee said. "How did Ryan's questioning go?"

"He confessed to everything," Didi said. "Especially after Donovan told him that the two men he'd just tried to kill were actually cops."

"Yeah, I bet that came as a bit of a shock!" Carter laughed.

"He hadn't had a clue that you two weren't just an ordinary married couple," Didi smiled. "You did a good job convincing them all." He knew that she meant it completely innocently but Carter could feel his cheeks heat up at that. It hadn't taken much acting at all on his part to convince their neighbors and he was starting to realize that it hadn't taken much acting from Lee either.

"Yeah...well...you know...anything for the job!" Carter managed to say before clearing his throat in embarrassment, feeling suddenly flustered.

"Do we know how Ryan was able to gain access to the security systems of the houses?" Lee asked quickly, saving Carter from any more awkwardness. "He had details of them all written down in that notebook so he must have been able to access them all prior to the thefts."

"Yes, Donovan asked him about that," Didi replied, shooting Carter an amused look that said she hadn't missed how flustered he had sounded. "Apparently he gained access through his work."

"But I thought he just worked for a small insurance firm," Carter frowned.

"Yes he does, and although the paintings were insured by a much larger company, that firm has been subcontracting out a lot of the valuations and security inspections to smaller firms. Anyone like to take a guess what one of those was?"

"Ryan's company," Lee answered. "So he would have been walked through the security by the victims themselves."

"Exactly," Didi said. "He was able to get every detail about the security that he could possibly want. He even watched them type in their pass codes. So when the time came, he simply turned off the system and walked right in."

"That explains why we didn't find much evidence at the crime scenes," Lee commented. "He didn't have to tamper with anything. He must have been in and out in minutes."

"That's a clever plan," Carter said, impressed. "If we hadn't gotten the tip about the address in the crescent, we might never have caught him."

"Then it's a good thing we did," Didi smiled, turning back to her report. "Sometimes that's all it takes."

"That and two fantastic detectives going undercover," Carter added as he moved away to sit at his own desk and saw Didi hide a smile behind her hand. He flopped down into his chair, sighing at the thought of the paperwork he had to do. That was the part of the job he didn't enjoy so much. He peered around his computer screen to look at Lee who was now seated at his own desk.

"Come back to mine later?" Carter asked him, watching as Lee's eyes flicked up to meet his.

"Yes," Lee answered with a bright smile that might have made Carter's insides melt just a little.

~~~

When they got back to Carter's place, he led the way in. It felt strange to be back in his own home after living in a different house for the duration of the case but he was glad to be back. He headed down the hallway into the lounge and slung his jacket over the back of the couch, listening to Lee's footsteps following him. He started to turn back towards him but stilled when Lee's arms wrapped around him from behind and a warm body pressed against his back.

"I am glad you're okay," Lee said, his voice low in Carter's ear as he pressed a kiss to his neck. "When the gun went off, I thought..."

"Hey," Carter said comfortingly, placing his hands over Lee's where they rested on his stomach. "I'm okay. It didn't even get my jacket this time." He tipped his head back onto Lee's shoulder so that he could see him better. Lee's face was doing that concerned frown he did when he was worried about someone so Carter kissed his cheek in an attempt to break him out of it. It seemed to work because Lee turned his head to bring their mouths together, kissing him slowly.

They kissed like that for a few moments but the angle made it clumsy and twisting his neck was uncomfortable for Carter so he turned around in Lee's arms to kiss him properly. He deepened the kiss, pressing closer and sliding a hand into Lee's hair, enjoying the way Lee held him tighter.

Lee kissed like he did everything else, thoroughly and single-mindedly, like Carter was the center of his world and he was trying to commit his mouth to memory. When they pulled apart, breathless, a wide and entirely dopey smile spread across Carter's face. He could barely contain his happiness. He'd been struggling not to jump with joy all day.

"I am not sure we'll be able to hide this from our colleagues," Lee told him, tracing a finger across Carter's smile.

"You might be right," Carter admitted, his smile not dimming even the slightest bit. "We do work with a bunch of detectives after all. And it's not like you can stop smiling either." He poked his own finger at Lee's smile. Lee batted his hand away easily but the point still stood that Lee looked happier than Carter had ever seen him.

The way he was smiling made Carter's heart flutter. He had never been able to resist any kind of smile from him, no matter the cause. Lee always looked ridiculously handsome but in that moment, a happy expression on his face, he looked downright stunning and it took Carter's breath away.

"I love you," Carter said softly, unable to leave it unsaid any longer. "I'm sorry if it's too early to say it but I love you." Lee looked stunned for a moment but then an expression of awe stole its way across his face.

"I love you too," he breathed and the way he was looking at Carter like he was the most precious thing in the world had Carter surging forwards to kiss him hard. Lee deepened the kiss, his hands slipping up under Carter's shirt to trail paths of heat over his skin and Carter groaned into Lee's mouth, hands clutching at him in turn, as he began steering him backwards towards the bedroom, desire flooding his veins with liquid heat.

~~~

"Hey, Lee?" Carter asked later as the lay sprawled naked across the bed together, tone turning mischievous.

"Yes, Carter?"

"Given that I saved your life, does that make me the best fake husband?" he asked and felt the huff of Lee's breath as he laughed against his shoulder.

"It is not a competition," Lee told him and Carter shifted his head backwards to pout at him, enjoying the way Lee's mouth twitched into an amused smile. They lapsed into silence, taking pleasure in each other's company and Carter ran his fingers up the length of Lee's arm, idly tracing patterns on his bare skin.

"I would not want anyone else as my fake husband though," Lee said after a few moments and Carter looked up to meet his oddly shy expression. Carter grinned widely, thinking that was probably one of the nicest things Lee had ever said to him.

"Just for that," he said, throwing a leg over Lee's hip and moving to straddle him, "I'm going to show you exactly how much I love you." He rolled his hips down and Lee gasped underneath him.

"I thought you already did," Lee said breathlessly, his hands sliding up Carter's sides.

"Well, if you don't want me to show you again, I can stop if you want," Carter suggested, voice teasing as he lifted his hips away, enjoying the way Lee's hands sought after him helplessly. But his breath caught in his throat when Lee gripped his waist and surged up to kiss him hard.

"Don't you dare," Lee murmured, breaking the kiss, his voice low and husky with arousal and it was one of the hottest things Carter had ever heard. Lee's hands pulled at him desperately and Carter relented with a groan, pressing their bodies together and ducking his head to press an open mouthed kiss to Lee's throat.

~~~

When Carter woke a few hours later, he found himself lying half on top of Lee, one hand resting over his heart. For a moment, still hazy with sleep, he started to pull away, worried about being discovered, but then he remembered that he was allowed this now. He relaxed back against Lee, feeling the warmth of his body and the steady beat of his heart under his palm.

He shifted slightly, pulling back so that he could look into Lee's face, admiring his peaceful features in the dim light. He still couldn't quite believe that this was real; that Lee had feelings for him too. It felt almost like a dream, lying there with Lee and not having to keep his feelings hidden any more. He pulled his hand away from Lee's chest, reaching it up to stroke his fingertips lightly down his cheek instead. Lee stirred under his touch and his eyes fluttered open, catching Carter in the act.

"Carter," he murmured, voice low and sleepy, unguarded in a way that felt wonderfully intimate.

"Sorry," Carter whispered, moving his hand away reluctantly but Lee reached out and caught it in his own, pulling it back to his cheek and holding it there, his own hand resting gently over Carter's.

"Don't be sorry," Lee said quietly, an echo of Carter's earlier words to him. He tilted his head slightly to press a kiss to Carter's wrist, his lips warm against the sensitive skin. Carter's heart swelled with affection for him and he leaned in to connect their mouths in a slow kiss.

They kissed languidly for several long minutes and Lee rolled onto his side so that he didn't have to twist his neck, pressing close to Carter and tangling their legs together.

"I love you," Lee said, voice hushed, when they pulled apart and Carter didn't think he was ever going to stop being knocked breathless by that.

"I love you too," he replied, feeling almost overwhelmed by his love for this man. This time it was Lee who kissed him, lips sliding lazily against Carter's.

When they parted, Lee rested their foreheads together, his hand sliding up Carter's back to rest near his shoulder blade. His eyes drifted closed and Carter's followed suit. He felt warm and content, deliriously happy to be lying there with the knowledge that his feelings were reciprocated. He smiled faintly, listening to Lee's steady breathing and feeling the warmth of his skin as he tipped slowly back into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's all for this fic but I will be writing more Carter/Lee fics in the future. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this one though. Let me know what you thought!


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